Fate's Twisted Humor
by bunnydakillr
Summary: Suzaku had always felt that his life lacked purpose. Then the girl of his dreams literally fell into his arms, bringing meaning to his existence once more. Just when he thought he couldn't be happier, though, he realized that fate was simply taunting him.
1. Sleepless Nights

**A/N****:**** I've wanted to write a Suza x Euphie fanfic for awhile now. I think it's safe to say that they're my favorite pairing in Code Geass. Anyway, this is going to be the most enterprising of my works thus far. As you can tell by the length of this first chapter, it'll be much longer than anything else I've written. Updates will be far less frequent, but hopefully not horrendously so. So without further delay, enjoy.**

* * *

Euphemia trudged onward in her torn, mangled dress, spattered with dirt and blood. In her hands, she firmly gripped an assault rifle she had acquired from a fallen soldier. The barrel was still smoking from the recent discharge of rounds. The recipient of the hot lances of lead now lay motionless in front of her, an inhuman, bloody heap. Normally, Euphemia would not even contemplate so much as pinching someone, yet this was not the first victim she had slaughtered so mercilessly within the past several minutes. Moreover, she should have collapsed from exhaustion long ago, yet she felt no pain or discomfort. In fact, she was only vaguely aware of where she was and what she was doing. She was in a somewhat less than conscious state − while she retained some blurred sense of awareness, she had little control over her body. Instead, her limbs seemed to move of their own accord, driven by some unseen force. Unseen to her, at least, for a cursory glance at her eyes revealed the force that propelled her on her inexplicable killing spree: the terrible power of geass.

Feeling a sudden gust of wind at her back, she halted her march of death and turned to face the disturbance. She was greeted by the sight of the Gawain landing in front of her. She stared blankly at it, the barely conscious portion of her mind trying to comprehend its reason for being there. Something in the back of her subdued mind nagged at her, trying to remember who it was that piloted the knightmare; someone very important to her, that much was clear. However, the belligerent command in control of her mind forced her to assume that it was simply another Eleven – and therefore another target. She felt her finger tighten on the trigger. Bullets pinged and ricocheted harmlessly off of the knightmare's exterior armor at over six hundred rounds per second. In mere moments, the relentless torrent ceased, the entire magazine having been expended that quickly. She couldn't allow a single one of the evil Elevens to live. Frantically, she searched around her and found what she was looking for: a fresh magazine lying unused next to the lifeless body of a Britannian soldier. Smiling triumphantly as she slid the magazine into her rifle, she looked up and saw that the knightmare's pilot had dismounted and was walking towards her. It was Zero, or more precisely, Lelouch Vi Britannia, her beloved half brother. She was relieved that it was him and not another disgusting Eleven, and she regained some degree of consciousness at the sight of him.

"Oh, it's you! Sorry, I thought you were one of them." He did not respond. He simply continued walking towards her. She kept speaking despite his strange behavior; her mind still failing to entirely comprehend the situation.

" So, I was thinking that we could run the Specially Administrated Zone of Japan together!" Then, a confused, quizzical look splayed across her face as something clicked in the back of her mind. "Oh, wait…Japan?"

The masked figure strode past her wordlessly, exuding utter emotionlessness. However, unbeknownst to the rest of the world, Lelouch was a wreck beneath his mask. He hated himself for what he was about to do; what he _had_ to do. This entire scandal was his fault, and that was painful enough. But to make things worse, he would now be forced to kill his own sister. His role as Zero demanded it, for the Japanese people would never trust him again if he showed any kindness to the woman who had just slaughtered so many of their kin. Yet in reality, he alone was the murderer. It was by his hand − or more precisely, his geass − that those people had been slaughtered, not hers. But he knew he would never be punished for it. And now, in mere seconds, he would add yet another life to the seemingly endless list of his victims. Yet another murder that would be met with thunderous applause rather than the punishment he deserved. He hated how much of a hypocrite he had become. He had set out to turn the world into a gentler place, yet so far all he had done was get away with mass murder. At least once this nightmarish day was over, he consoled himself, the rebellious Japanese might help him finally overthrow the Britiannians and help him achieve that goal of a gentle world. He steeled himself for what he had to do next. Swearing silently to himself as a tear escaped his eye, he slowly turned to face Euphemia. As emotionlessly as he could, he spoke.

"Yes. I would have liked that, Euphemia." That only confused her further. As more and more of her consciousness returned, the magnitude of her actions began to dawn upon her. Before she could question her brother as to what was going on, she was staring down the spiraled barrel of the pistol he now pointed at her.

"You and I…together."

What happened next seemed to transpire at an unnaturally slow pace. She saw a brilliant flash of light, emanating from the pistol her brother held. What seemed to be several seconds later, a piercingly cold, incredibly fine and sharp object penetrated her chest. Instantaneously, her body went limp, and she began to fall backwards, her facial expression reflecting the utter shock she was experiencing. Her brother had shot her, apparently with the intention of killing her.

"Lelouch…why?"

As she began to black out, events from the previous night – which now seemed so long ago – played out in front of her.

* * *

Euphemia paced nervously through the dark, deserted halls of the government bureau. It was well into the night, and she was the only soul up and about. This was with good reason, however, for the next day she was to run the opening ceremonies for the Specially Administrated Zone of Japan. Euphie had never quite mastered the art of public speaking, but being a princess, she was frequently required to perform. Due to this, she could normally quell most of her stage fright by relying on her experience. But now, she felt as though she had never spoken in her life, and was convinced that she had forgotten all the points she had outlined for her speech tomorrow. As such, she was far too anxious to get the sleep she so badly needed. So now, here she was, fretfully wandering about the building; her footsteps silent and ghostlike on the carpeted floor.

Briefly, she paused; breath catching in her chest. She could have sworn she heard someone approaching. Frantically, she tried to think of an excuse as to why she would be up at this hour, should she be discovered. When she failed to come up with one, her head darted back and forth in a futile attempt to find a place to hide. After waiting motionlessly for several seconds, though, no one appeared. Sighing silently, she massaged her temples with her fingers. She was a mess. If this went on, there was no way she would be in a suitable mental state to perform the next day. At the very least, she needed to talk to someone and sort out her thoughts. It was then she realized that she had no idea where she was. She had been wandering for what must have been nearly half an hour, too concerned to be paying attention to where she was going. Briefly, she glanced around to gather her bearings, and discovered she was standing in front of a door. It just so happened to be the door that lead to the sleeping quarters of none other than her knight, Suzaku Kururugi − the man she had openly confessed her love for less than a week ago. No, she admitted to herself with a smile, that was putting it too lightly. She had confessed her love for him, and then _ordered_ him to return the sentiment. Of course he had agreed, but not because he was her knight − his feelings for her were legitimate. That thought lifted her spirits somewhat, and all of a sudden, she found herself gravitating towards the door.

Only half aware of what she was doing, she shakily extended a fist and lightly knocked on the door. Part of her was berating herself for such recklessness. She was an imperial princess, what business did she have seeking entrance to the sleeping quarters of her knight at this hour? If anyone found out, heads would roll. Before she could change her mind, however, the door opened to reveal her disarmingly handsome, if somewhat surprised, knight.

"Euphie. What are you doing here?"

Again only vaguely aware of what she was doing, she hurriedly walked past him and entered the room. Once more, she found herself unable to speak; all she could do was nervously rub her arms, as if suddenly cold. Behind her, she heard Suzaku close the door.

"What's wrong, Euphie? Talk to me."

She felt his strong hands grasp her gently by the shoulders. Part of her wanted to simply apologize and leave. If she was caught, she would certainly be reprimanded severely, but no real punishment would be administered. She was royalty, after all. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for Suzaku, who would most likely face a severe demotion at best if they were caught. She didn't even know what to say, or quite why she had come. Though she desired to relieve her nervousness, she found herself becoming even more distraught with each passing second. Finally, she did the only thing she could think to do: surrender to the emotions that were overwhelming her.

"Oh Suzaku," she said, turning to face her knight, though she refused to meet his gaze, "I- I'm just so scared. I have no idea what I'm going to do tomorrow…I'm so worried I'll make a fool of myself!" she buried her face into his shoulder and collapsed forward into his embrace, sinking into his comforting warmth.

"Euphie…"

Suzaku was more than happy to help relieve his beloved's tension, but in truth, a small part of him wished she would leave. Though he loved her more than he previously thought possible, he knew they couldn't risk being seen together. She was a princess, he was a number. They had no place being together. Moreover, her presence was…intoxicating. He reveled in the sensation of her body pressed firmly against his. The feeling of her warmth against his body; the clean, lavender scent of her hair; it was all too much for him. He could feel the animal inside of him slowly awakening, and it was beginning to claw at the chains of his self restraint. His breathing became slightly labored. Though he relished this moment with his princess, he feared the consequences that would follow if the chains were in fact broken. And yet, he couldn't bring himself to ask her to leave, helpless and scared as she was. So he simply held on to her even tighter.

Rarely did they get the chance to share such intimate embraces, and Euphie took full advantage of the situation. She ran her hands across his chiseled chest and down his smooth back, admiring every contour of her knight's incredibly fit body. She committed every curve to memory, as if it would be the only embrace they ever shared. Suzaku swallowed audibly. Euphemia's caressing touch sent shivers racing throughout his body. His hands came to rest on the warm, bare flesh of her shoulder blades exposed at the back of her dress. The animal within him now stirred restlessly. The chains that were Suzaku's self restraint now creaked with the stress. He was suddenly all too aware of the warm softness of Euphie's breasts prodding him firmly in the chest. In an attempt to regain himself, he took a deep breath, only to find his lungs filled with the intoxicatingly pleasant scent of Euphie's perfume. He was dizzy for a moment, and felt as though her mere presence would cause him to faint at any moment. To make matters worse, he knew he had to stop their encounter before it went any farther. Summoning all his self control, he pushed back just far enough to look into her piercingly deep lavender eyes and began to address her.

"Euphie, you know I hate to see you so distressed, and I'm touched that you would come to me for help. But, it's late, and I think the best cure for your anxiety right now would be a good night's sleep."

She simply stared back at him, though he couldn't read what she was thinking. Briefly, he found himself entranced, lost in the infinite depths of her beautiful lavender orbs. He returned her gaze, staring back into those beautiful eyes. He lost all sense of time, and only several seconds later did he realize that he had stopped speaking. Shaking himself out of his trance, he soldiered on as he so often did, and continued.

"You shouldn't worry so much about tomorrow, you'll be fine. And you must remember that you're doing a great thing, and the people will love you for it no matter how you present yourself."

She leaned in closer to him. The chains began to crack. Suzaku panicked slightly as he began to feel his blood rushing towards the lower half of his body. Swallowing once more and forcing himself to breathe, he put forth his final argument, and he prayed that it would work. He began to perspire due to the tension.

"Besides, you know we can't be seen together like this. I'm your subordinate, and more importantly an Eleven. You're a princess."

She leaned in even closer; their lips were now separated by a space as thin as their combined and rapidly diminishing self restraint. Suzaku's pulse became erratic. He couldn't handle being so close to his beloved princess. In his mind, a battle raged between his sense of self control and his overpowering need to be with her. The former was rapidly losing ground. Thankfully, he gained a few extra moments of respite when she spoke to him; or so he thought.

"But Suzaku, I'm not anymore. I'm no longer a princess." He stared back at her, eyes wide in bewilderment. She hugged him even closer.

" You were right, in our positions as princess and knight, we couldn't be together. So I gave up my right to the throne. I gave up something that has no value to me so I could have something else with limitless value."

She spoke no more, for Suzaku seized her at once and kissed her, releasing all of his fiery passion. Distantly, he thought he heard the sound of broken bits of metal clanging to the floor, followed by a gratifyingly victorious, beastly roar. How stupid he had been to deny his love for her out of fear for his job security. In fact, it was nothing short of sheer cowardice. He would thank her later; her words had released him from his idiotic train of thought. Only now did he even begin to appreciate the scope of her love for him. More than once had she risked her reputation just to be with him, and he had yet to return the favor even once. She had been far braver than he, all because of her overpowering desire to be with her beloved knight. She was far wiser than she appeared, and Suzaku loved her all the more for it. And as a result, she had freed him from his painful haze of self-denial. Indeed, he was grateful, and as the primal beast within him gleefully roared with anticipation, he began the process of repaying her for her efforts.

His tongue snaked out from his open mouth and teased her lower lip, begging entry to her divine mouth. Euphie, though surprised at his sudden boldness, was far less than hesitant to accept him. She gasped as his tongue burst forth to caress her own, and his hands suddenly began to race across her back. Still reveling in their intimate embrace, Suzaku briefly glanced at his bed, located behind Euphie. The covers were drawn back as if the bed were beckoning them forward with open arms. Accepting the invitation, Suzaku began maneuvering his princess in that general direction. As he did so, his fingers deftly fiddled with the laces of the shawl Euphie wore with her dress. In no time, her bare shoulders were exposed to his exploratory touch. Meanwhile, Euphie took to some exploration as well, fingers tugging enthusiastically at the buttons of Suzaku's military uniform. Her hands sank into the warm flesh of his chest, relishing his well-sculpted muscles.

Her cleavage stared beckoningly up at him, and he couldn't resist such a welcoming invitation. His hand gradually moved from her spine to lovingly cup one of her breasts through the soft, pink fabric of her dress. With the other, he gently squeezed her buttocks. His actions elicited a surprised, but gratifying moan from Euphie that sent shivers down Suzaku's spine. She lifted a leg to straddle his hips and he ran a hand up her skirt, cradling her thigh. Every inch of skin he touched drove him mad with excitement. Having had almost no time alone with Euphemia in the past, the most they had ever done was exchange a quick hug when nobody was looking. Now, however, he was free to explore every detail of her divinely perfect flesh. He released a moan that echoed Euphie's as he began to feel an insistent stirring in his loins, quickly accompanied by an insatiable hunger for more of his princess.

By the time they reached the bed, they were both panting heavily, and a short trail of discarded articles of clothing chronicled their intimate journey. He gently leaned Euphemia down on the bed. She felt nearly weightless as he cradled her in his strong arms. When she had settled herself, he eagerly followed her and assaulted her neck with a crusade of kisses, causing her to pant and moan anew. His hand slipped behind her, and he sensually unzipped her dress. He stroked the flesh of her now completely exposed back, reveling in the seemingly endless flow of the totally unblemished skin that he felt. As he did all this, Euphemia enthusiastically undid his belt and began to unbutton his pants. He shifted his hand to her flanks, caressing the sides of her torso briefly, before sliding her dress down just enough to expose her perfect, regal breasts. And to him, they truly were perfect in every aspect. They were sized just right for him − not oppressively large, but not disappointingly small either. They were just large enough to give him a good handful − a fact he took full advantage of. His left hand excitedly toyed with one, squeezing and massaging, while his tongue did the same to the other. He relished their shapely perfection, like the domes of an ancient Roman city. It was as if she had been drawn by a master artist, attempting to capture the highest degree of perfection in the human form. He then turned his attention to her beautifully supple, pink nipples. Suzaku spent no short amount of time stimulating them, as he could tell Euphemia was thoroughly seduced by his intimate touch.

Euphie could feel the nervousness that had consumed her earlier begin to melt away. Now, she only had one thing on mind: her knight. Her hands explored every patch of skin she could find. They descended ever lower, constantly finding new territory for her to claim. His pants were now completely unbuttoned, and as she slowly pulled them off, she could feel the bulge of his arousal through his boxer shorts. With her hands, she continued exploring; spending most of her time admiring his chiseled legs and firm buttocks. Her teasing touches succeeded in eliciting anxious moans from her knight. Similarly, his caressing touches drove her wild. The feeling of his hands on her buttocks and his mouth on her exposed breasts drove her wild with lust for him. It wasn't long before she could no longer resist the temptation. She slipped her hands beneath the waistband of his boxers and started to slip them off of his hips. The sensation gave her an immensely satisfying, erotic thrill. So, she went as slowly as possible, wanting to prolong the moment as much as she could. His pulse and his breathing quickened with every inch of skin she freed from the confines of his boxers. She was pleased that she could so easily excite her guardian, and she was even more pleased at what she saw when his shorts finally joined the rest of the clothes on the floor. After all the rumors she had heard about Japanese men, she was somewhat pessimistic about Suzaku's size. Now, however, she was glad to see that in Suzaku's case, the rumors were far from true. He seemed to be just the right size for her: not painfully huge, but certainly not unnoticeably small. Then again, this was the first time she had seen a man naked before. Desiring to satiate her great curiosity, she let her hands continue exploring.

She gently grasped his manhood, producing an extremely pleased gasp from Suzaku in the process. She was amazed by how hard he was. Previously, she hadn't thought it possible for mere flesh to be so firm and stiff. Suddenly, she began to feel a tingle emanating from between her legs, as well as an overpowering desire to have him inside her. Somewhat involuntarily, she began grinding her hips against his. But she didn't restrain herself when she realized what she was doing, nor would she have been able to if she wanted. She attacked his neck with kisses while massaging his member with one hand.

Suzaku was going crazy. He was becoming more and more aroused with each passing second, thanks largely to Euphie's incredibly bold efforts to excite him. It was so unlike her; she was usually so shy. However, it just made Suzaku love her all the more. He knew he couldn't wait much longer. He desired to see even more of his princess. Once he was done with her breasts – for the moment, at least – he continued to slide her dress down her torso. As he did so, he left a trail of kisses: first along her stomach, then to her hips, thighs, and finally her calves and feet when the offending dress was finally cast aside. She was now wearing nothing but a pair of light pink panties that complemented both her dress and her hair quite nicely. Suzaku took a moment to gaze over her body, admiring every inch of perfection. Euphie blushed more and more profusely as he did this, for no one other than her parents – and occasionally, Cornelia – had seen her so bare. Deep down, however, it drove her wild. She loved the primal, hungry look in his eyes as he regarded her glistening skin, and was proud that she could be the source of such desire. When Suzaku could stand it no more, he gently slipped his hands around her waist and relieved her of her underwear, and was promptly greeted by the sight of Euphie's wonderful, glistening, hairless womanhood.

Suzaku had never seen anything more beautiful in all his life. He couldn't resist investigating further. He traced the warm, soft folds of flesh with his fingers, absorbing every detail of the wondrous feeling of her womanhood against his hand. Her entire body tensed in response to his curious touch. Euphie whimpered with anticipation − she couldn't stand it much longer. Just when she was about to seize and force herself upon him, he stuck his index finger inside as far as it would go. Euphie squealed with delight. Suzaku grinned, happy that he could be the cause of such pleasure. Ever since the death of his father, he had felt as though his life lacked purpose. However, since he had met Euphie, everything seemed more meaningful to him. And for the moment, he didn't care if his only purpose in life was to tend to his princess's every whim. In fact, he somewhat wished such was reality. After pausing to place a long, wet, well-deserved kiss on Euphie's rapidly wetting womanhood, he moved back up to her beautiful, glowing face. Nothing needed to be said; they both knew what was happening, and that they could finally express the full extent of their love for one another without fear of judgment. He leaned in closer to take her in another kiss as she used her hand to guide him to her entrance. He was more than happy to accept the invitation. He entered her slowly and gently.

It was a sensation unlike anything Suzaku had felt before, or had even imagined for that matter. The feeling of the slick, warm folds of flesh sliding around his member drove all thoughts from his mind. The only thing he could focus on was the immaculate beauty of his princess lying naked before him. As he pushed ever deeper, the sensation grew, and he released an immensely satisfying groan. His arms weakened slightly. All the while, Euphie's grip steadily tightened on him. It seemed like an eternity, but when the entire length of him was finally inside her, Euphie gasped and squealed with delight. They were both breathing heavily now, lying still in each others' arms. They stayed that way for several seconds, regarding each others' bodies in the dim light. Finally, Suzaku leaned in for another kiss and began again.

She was incredibly tight, but wonderfully so. Suzaku wouldn't have wanted it any other way. It seemed that they were a perfect fit, as though their bodies had been created specifically for each other. His hands freely traversed every part of her body. He couldn't decide which he preferred: the beautifully warm, slick flesh of her back that seemed to last forever; or the soft, pleasant-smelling cascade of long, pink hair that framed her entire body. In the end he chose both. One hand traveled up and down the length of her back, beginning at her buttocks and ending at her neck. The other cradled the back of her head, fingers buried deep in that beautiful pink forest of hair. All the while, he held her closer to him, constantly deepening their increasingly intimate kiss. All of his previous doubts vanished, and he now only had one goal in mind: to show his princess the time of her life.

Euphemia was more than beside herself with pleasure. In fact, she was having difficulty stifling herself, frequently releasing immensely satisfied moans of pleasure. She was completely at the mercy of Suzaku's slow, but powerful and maddeningly pleasurable thrusts. She still wasn't entirely certain what had possessed her to come to Suzaku's room in the first place, or to act as she did when she got there. However, she no longer cared. All her stress had been completely obliterated. It was precisely the kind of therapy she needed, and she had her knight to thank for it all. She never wanted to leave the warm caress of his embrace. And after tomorrow, she wouldn't have to, for such would be considered normal, rather than unacceptable. That knowledge overwhelmed her with joy, and a single tear managed to escape her eye to roll down her cheek. This did not go unnoticed by Suzaku.

"Euphie…what's wrong? I didn't hurt you did I?" he asked, immediately filled with concern for the wellbeing of his princess.

"I'm just so happy," she stammered, "that we can…finally be together…like this." She beamed up at him. After a moment, he grinned back and gently brushed his thumb across her cheek, wiping away the tear.

"You were wrong, you know. You are still a princess. However, now you're _my_ princess."

"Oh Suzaku!" She seized him in another kiss and they continued.

Suzaku was overwhelmed. He knew he couldn't last for much longer. She was simply too much for him, too much perfection. Every part of her was driving him mad with bliss. The intoxicating, fruity scent of her wondrously long hair; the warm, soft, yielding flesh of her breasts; the warm, wet folds of flesh in her womanhood, writhing and constricting around his member. The knowledge that she was a princess – his princess – only served to increase the sensation a thousand fold for him. By virtue of her birth, she was supposed to practically exude regality, properness, and purity. Above all, never would anyone even think of her in an even remotely sexual manner, for fear of capital punishment. In a word: she was simply untouchable. Yet here she was, lying naked in his arms, clinging to him while trying to stifle her cries of pure satisfaction. It was an extremely arousing reality for Suzaku. His groans and gasps became more desperate with each thrust. It wouldn't be much longer.

Euphie wailed again as she struggled to contain herself. The raw pleasure radiating from between her legs was now so great, she half expected that Suzaku would end up tearing her in half. She didn't care; the thought only intensified her already immense sexual euphoria. She wrapped her legs tightly around his waist, beckoning him even deeper into her divine womanhood. However, they fell back to their original position quickly, having gone totally limp with pleasure once Suzaku obliged her request. Through her haze of ecstasy, she forced her eyes open to gaze upon her knight. Due to the raw intensity of her pleasure, he was all she could see, completely enveloping her. It was thrillingly erotic for her. That her knight – the man who had pledged that his only life's purpose was to protect her – was completely enveloping her, continually sending her over the brink of what she had previously thought to be an impossible amount of pleasure. And he was doing his job well, for never had she felt more sheltered and protected than she did at that moment. She basked in the warmth radiating off of him. His hot breath washed over her, accompanying each increasingly magnificent wave of bliss. His curious hands and tongue explored every crevice of her body, serving only to further her state of mind-numbing pleasure. It was all far too much for her, and yet it kept building with every second that passed. She could feel the sensation building from deep within her pelvis, and it continued to grow and grow until…

"Oh, Euphie…!"

"Suzaku my knight!"

Their night of forbidden love finally culminated in one loud, unified, primal moan, emanating powerfully from the both of them. The floodgates were released, and their fluids sprang forth with impossible force, mixing together to form a concoction of pure love and lust. They completely lost all sense of awareness, able to detect only each other through what they could feel. The sheer intensity of their mutual bliss caused them to writhe and wriggle spasmodically. Their limbs tangled, and they both tightened their grip on each other in a barely successful attempt to anchor themselves to reality. Their hands raced over each other's bodies. All the while, they hugged each other closer, deepening the intimate embrace they had shared all night. Tighter and tighter they squeezed each other, as if trying to meld and fuse their sweaty flesh together in the culmination of their symbiotic ecstasy.

Minutes later, when she finally stilled and regained some sense of reality, Euphemia realized that Suzaku no longer held her. She shivered at the sudden absence of his comforting warmth. However, the discomfort didn't last long, for he had left her soft embrace only to grab the covers, which soon enveloped their naked, sweaty bodies. Both lying on their sides now, he wrapped his arms around her and she was instantly overtaken by numbingly relaxing warmth. As best she could, she shifted closer to him, pressing her back into the curve of his torso. This was no easy task, however, as her entire body remained completely limp with residual pleasure. Moreover, she still panted heavily in the aftermath of her intense pleasure. To say she was out of breath was an understatement; she had no breath. She couldn't move a single muscle. However, once she had found a comfortable spot in the arms of her knight, she had no intention of doing so. Suddenly overtaken by blissful exhaustion, she closed her eyes, smiled, and exhaled contentedly. Suzaku kissed her once more on the shoulder.

"You were fantastic, Euphie. And tomorrow, you'll be even better."

She giggled softly at his suggestive humor before kissing his hand in return. "Thank you, Suzaku. This was exactly what I needed." She wrapped her arms around his and they both tightened their grips on each other once more. Then, Euphemia promptly fell into the deepest, most rejuvenating sleep she had ever experienced.

* * *

Suzaku sat in the cockpit of the Lancelot, flying high over the Tokyo Settlement, growing more and more distraught with every second. He had no idea what was going on. All he could remember was waking up in the stadium, surrounded by the mangled and bloodied bodies of thousands of fellow Japanese. Making matters worse, the com system was abuzz with the repetition of an order supposedly issued by his princess: "All those within the sound of my voice, seek out and kill any Japanese you can find!"

He refused to believe it was possible. Euphie tried to erase the discrimination between Britannians and Elevens, not exponentially increase it. And such a malignant order couldn't have possibly come from his sweet, gentle princess. Angered and confused, he struggled to remember the ceremony, trying to figure out what could have possibly caused such chaos.

"_Your highness, this man is too dangerous to be alone with. Please allow me to accompany you."_

His grip on the controls tightened painfully. Zero. His head swiveled wildly, staring at each of his monitors, praying he would find his beloved princess soon before something terrible happened. If Zero had done something to her…

"_Thanks, Suzaku. But I'll be fine on my own. You don't need to worry. Just trust me."_

He growled impatiently as a warning flashed on his screen. He was taking fire from enemy knightmares below him. "Out of my way, I don't have time for you!" He zoomed past them, searching even more fervently now. He had to get to her and whisk her away from all this. He had to find the truth.

"_But, your highness!"_

How could all this be happening, especially so soon after what seemed to be the best night of his life? He impatiently slammed his fist on the inside of his cockpit. This was taking too long. If he didn't find her soon…well, he didn't want to think of the consequences.

"_Trust me Suzaku, I'll be fine."_

Her voice echoed in his head, almost painfully so. He felt as though her prediction – which now seemed woefully inaccurate – may have been the last time he would hear her voice. No! He refused to believe that. He was her knight, and he would save her from this catastrophe just as he had vowed to do.

"_Trust me Suzaku, I'll be fine…"_

Abruptly halting the Lancelot, he decided to let his scanners survey the particularly large, open area he had come to hover over. He drummed his fingers impatiently while they did so. His heart raced and his entire body shook. He craved nothing more at that moment than to fall into a warm, relaxing embrace with his princess. He was so deep in thought at the memory of the previous night that he jumped when his instruments emitted a loud _*BEEEP!*_ The camera zoomed in on the life form it had identified, and on the main screen appeared none other than the immaculate face of his princess, alive and well. Briefly, his heart soared.

"Euphie…"

--- --- ---

_*BANG!*_

As Euphie fell backwards, her vision began to darken, and the last few gloriously happy memories from the previous night began to fade. A single tear escaped her slowly narrowing eyes as she began to lose consciousness. She had only one thing on her mind.

_Suzaku…_

Just before she blacked out completely, she thought she saw a mysterious white and gold blur racing towards her from the sky. What it could have been, she knew not. It could have been an angel coming to whisk her away to the heavens; it could have been her own soul, departing from her body, which now felt terribly cold; or it could even have been a knight in shining armor…

* * *

**I know it seems like a oneshot, but trust me, there's much more to come. Kindly review as you guys always have.**


	2. Taunts

Suzaku sat rigidly on a bench in the waiting room of the medical wing onboard the _Avalon_. Only a few feet away from him, a large red light indicated that his beloved princess was still in surgery. She was so close to him, yet her life hung in the balance, and there was nothing he could do. To make matters worse, the day's events still made little sense to Suzaku, for they were all far too sudden. One moment, they were lying in bed together, arguably the happiest people on earth at the time; the next, thousands of Japanese lay dead in the streets – supposedly as a result of her order – and she lay dying in the next room. Every second was torture for him. His entire body shook uncontrollably and his fists painfully clutched the fabric of his uniform on his thighs. He became more fearful and distraught with each passing second; every fiber of his being practically destroying itself with worry over the fate of his princess.

As if to reassure himself – or perhaps simply to fill the painful silence that had descended over the entirety of the aerial battleship – Suzaku mentally repeated to himself the phrase he had uttered when he had boarded the ship with a bloody, cold, and unconscious Euphemia cradled in his arms. He shouted it out loud now, his fear and worry having come to a peak.

"You mustn't let her die!"

He cast his gaze downward, only to find himself staring at the hideously large bloodstains covering his uniform; it was Euphie's blood. He shut his eyes painfully, as if trying to erase the image from his memory, but it was no use. Those grotesque stains continued to assert their existence, practically burning themselves onto his retinas and into his mind. They mocked him – mocked his loss, mocked his failure to do his job, mocked his failure to protect the one he loved. He wanted to scream, or vomit – he wasn't sure which he preferred, though part of him hoped for the latter so as to silence the former. But, as his fear peaked once more, it became apparent that he had no such luck. He wailed with agony.

"Euphie…please…" he choked.

--- --- ---

The red light over the door to the operating room finally dimmed and shut off. As it did so, a trio of weary surgeons morosely filed out of the room. Sighing, the _Avalon_'s chief of surgery spoke first:

"Well, she's finally stable. Unfortunately, there's nothing more we can do. She won't last…"

The other doctors seemed appalled by this news; though they all knew it was so even before the chief had spoken.

"Do you think she'll even make it through the rest of the night?" one of the other doctors asked.

The chief merely shook his head. "Sadly, no."

"Christ, this world is going to hell!"

Several seconds of silence passed, as each doctor mulled over the statement in their heads. Seeing as one of their proud nation's most beloved princesses had just been fatally wounded, they couldn't help but agree. Finally, the third doctor – a woman – spoke up, bringing up what none of them wanted to discuss.

"Someone needs to inform her highness princess Cornelia."

"I'll be handling that," the chief responded, sighing wearily once more. "But, we also need to inform the boy…" As all three of them were well aware of the relationship between princess Euphemia and her knight, that task seemed the far more arduous and difficult to all of them.

The chief decided to risk a glance over at the boy, sitting only a few feet away from where they stood. Immediately, he regretted his decision, for the young man looked nothing short of horrid. Yet, the chief found himself unable to avert his gaze, for sheer bewilderment and disbelief overwhelmed him. The sight of the boy disgusted him, and not just because of the obscene amount of blood that spattered and stained the boy's entire body. In fact, he estimated that the young boy was covered in more blood than all three surgeons combined. He shivered at the thought. But no, it was the sheer age of the boy that disturbed him most. That someone his age would be forced to play such a significant role in a war of such horrors was nothing short of deplorable. Additionally, the effect that it had on the boy was blatantly obvious, and no less disturbing. He looked far more haggard than anyone with such youth rightfully should. Massive, dark circles hung from the boy's eyes, which were stained red − though whether from blood or tears, the chief could not tell. He could not decide which eventuality was worse, so he hoped that we would not learn the answer to that question. The boy's hair was disheveled severely, and encrusted with an ungodly mixture of dirt, blood, and grease. Just then, he looked up at them, eyes pleading against all hope, desiring to know the fate of his princess, praying that she was unharmed. That unnerved the chief even more. He returned his gaze to the team of surgeons around him. The question from before as to who would inform the boy of said princess' fate still hung in the air.

"Damnit." The chief added when neither of the others volunteered to undertake the burden of informing the boy of the princess' situation. This day was getting worse with every second, he thought to himself, as he slowly stepped forward to address the young knight.

* * *

_Her eyes opened slowly as she suddenly awoke from her wonderfully deep sleep. She smiled, pleased to find that most of her body still tingled with residual pleasure from their recent, immensely liberating lovemaking. Gathering her bearings, she realized that she was still in Suzaku's room, a fact confirmed by the sound of his peaceful breathing behind her, as well as the soothing heat of his chest pressed against her back. Looking out a window, she discovered it was still dark outside. From what she could tell, it seemed that only a few hours had passed. She found this strange, for she already felt completely rested, as though she had slept in until the afternoon. It seemed that her sleep in Suzaku's arms was even more rejuvenating than she had initially thought. She smiled, realizing that everything about her knight made her love him even more._

_It wasn't yet dawn, so something must have woken her up. Frowning slightly, she scanned the room in an attempt to find an explanation; evidence of some disturbance or other. Just as she was about to give up her futile search and drift back to sleep, Suzaku stirred slightly behind her. It was then that she realized the reason she had awoken: his loving embrace had tightened around her waist since they had first fallen asleep. She didn't mind, really – she was in no discomfort, and she was more than happy to embrace her knight even closer. She gleefully snuggled closer to him, sinking into his warm, relaxing embrace. Despite this, she was still curious as to the reasoning behind the sudden change. She gazed upon his face from over her bare shoulders, trying to imagine what he might be dreaming about. She then noticed that his other arm was extended forward, and his hand balled into a fist, as if wielding a blade of some sort. She had to stifle a small giggle when she realized that it was exactly what he was doing. He held her even closer and his extended hand shifted back and forth slightly, as if challenging – no, daring – anyone who might do her any harm to come forth and face him. Even in his sleep, he devoted his entire existence to protecting his princess. _

_She smiled again as she closed her eyes and laid her hand across his. As she began to fall asleep once more, she was overwhelmed with joy at the knowledge that so long as she remained with her beloved knight, no harm would ever come to her…_

* * *

Euphemia groaned weakly, slowly opening her eyes as she began to regain consciousness. The action seemed to expend far more energy than it should have; she felt impossibly weak and frail. She realized vaguely that she was still breathing, though not of her own power, for she was far too weak to do so. Looking down, she saw that a respirator mask covered most of the lower half of her face, and that she was lying naked in a bed, covered only by some thin white sheets. She must have been in a hospital of some sort. She was completely disoriented. What could have happened to put her in such a state? Was she injured? More importantly, how did she arrive in this place? The last place she remembered being naked was in Suzaku's bed. If she had the energy to do so, she would have blushed happily at the memory. Staying with her original train of thought, though, she struggled to remember what might have taken place to put her in a hospital, but it was no use. Just as she was about to give up all hope, she heard a familiar voice address her.

"You've done well, Euphemia."

Summoning all her strength, she turned her head sideways to face whoever it was that had spoken. There, at her bedside, she beheld the sight of a young man – apparently not much different from her in age – with short green her and striking amber eyes. It was immediately apparent that they were alone, as no Britannian in their right mind would allow someone dressed so informally to be in the presence of royalty. He wore nothing but a white tank top and a pair of tattered jeans. Euphemia didn't mind, though, for she had known this individual for quite some time.

"B.B. what's going on?" she muttered hoarsely, her words distorted by the obtrusive respirator mask.

"To put it simply and concisely, shit's hitting the fan," he said in his usual monotonous voice and brash, straightforward fashion. Euphie, however, lacked the strength to either laugh or question him. So, she said nothing, and he continued. "More specifically as to how this relates to me, though: you're fulfilling your contract."

Euphemia was even more confused by this revelation. "How can that be possible? I hardly ever used the geass you gave me, and now I doubt that I'm in a position to take your place." She fought back the urge to shiver in revulsion as she recalled the one and only time she had used her power: the power to grant unbridled joy to anyone. Though it seemed an innocent enough power, she had discovered the horrors of its full potential, the hard way. She had used it on an unsuspecting Eleven when she had first arrived in Japan, shortly after meeting B.B. for the first time. Her intentions were pure; she simply wanted to find out what her newfound power could do. Unfortunately, however, she had been too slow in averting her gaze and ending her spell over the poor man, and before long, his uncontrollable, joyful spasms of bliss had killed him. It was a sight that was nothing short of revolting, and Euphemia had vowed never to use the power again after being the cause of such horrible suffering. Even now, nearly a year later, she had to shut her eyes at the memory, the tears beginning to well up. "I was too afraid to use it at all."

"Oh, on the contrary, my dear. You have indeed gained a mastery over that demonic power I blessed you with. It was not fear of your power that prevented you from using it, but rather respect for that power. You understood better than any of my previous companions the consequences of using such power without restraint. In doing so, you came to hold a great respect for the power that you posses, and as a result, you have gained mastery over it. You are indeed ready to take my place."

Euphemia kept her eyes shut, for she was now too weak to reopen them. "But B.B. in order to take your place, I'd have to kill you. You of all people should know that I could never do something like that."

He winced at the sheer irony of her statement, since she had just slaughtered thousands of innocent Japanese. He was grateful that she didn't see his reaction. How stubborn this girl was. Even on her deathbed, she refused to accept the gift of immortality from a dear friend who craved so badly to be rid of it. However, he wouldn't let that stand in his way now. He grasped her hand with his.

"I'm sorry to force this on you, Euphie, but I'm certain you'll thank me for it someday." She gasped involuntarily as she felt a great tingling sensation run up her arm, as an immense amount of power and energy flowed from his arm to hers. He had forcibly transferred his code to her. Sighing, he prepared himself for what he had to do next. Her futile efforts to stop him continued despite how much progress he had made.

"B.B…" she implored weakly, her eyes remaining shut.

"I won't take 'no' for an answer, Euphie. Just know that I do this for your own good; for your survival." He sighed once more. The time was drawing near. "I knew you would never go through with this if you had your way. However, it seems these grim circumstances have granted me some good luck. You know I hate to tell lies to you, Euphie, but remember, this is for your own good."

Clearing his throat, he prepared the lie that he knew would leave her no choice but to kill him.

"Euphie, I'm Japanese." Her eyes shot open immediately, ringed with red light.

Several weeks later, the bloody corpse of a green-haired young man was found in a corridor of the _Avalon_, a scalpel protruding from his neck. Nobody knew who he was, how he had gotten there, or by whom he had been killed.

* * *

The room was painfully silent, save for the slow, weak beeping of the EKG attached to Euphie's chest. Suzaku gazed morosely at the pin he held loosely in his hands. It was the same pin that had been awarded to him by his princess – the one that designated him as her knight. Being allowed the privilege to carry such a pin meant that he had to guarantee the princess' safety, a vow which he had taken gladly and with ease, as well as seriousness and determination. Yet all the same, he had failed to uphold that most imperative vow with just as much ease as he had sworn it. How hypocritical he felt.

He kept staring at the pin, contemplating his own failure. So narrow was his focus upon it that he hardly even noticed the presence of Lloyd and Cecile, standing beside him as always. The longer he stared at the pin, however, the more he simply wanted to break down, collapse to the floor, and wail in agony once more. He could not stand being so close to his princess, who was lying comatose in front of him, without knowing her fate. Every passing second made it more difficult for him to withhold the immeasurable torrent of tears that still persisted underneath his eyes. It only became even more difficult when the silence was broken by the horribly distorted voice of his princess, her eyes slowly beginning to open.

"Suzaku…" she whispered hoarsely, her words distorted both by the respirator she wore and the sterile, plastic wall of the medical capsule which shielded her from the rest of the room. Obliging her, Cecile disabled both of the obtrusive devices before leaving the room with Lloyd in tow. The princess and the knight were alone.

Suzaku was immediately inundated with an innumerable quantity of emotions. He experienced so many different feelings in that one instant, that his facial expression reflected absolutely none of them, for the sheer quantity was too great. On the one hand, he was overjoyed that his beloved princess was alright, at least momentarily. On the other, he wanted to question her and make sense of all that had happened that day. She had clearly undergone some sort of interaction with Zero…did she know who he was? Still another part of him wished for nothing other than a silent, grateful embrace with her. He wasn't sure if he wanted to weep, kiss her, or interrogate her. In the end, he decided to pursue a mixture of approaches that would satisfy as many of his cravings as possible.

"Euphie, I have to know," he began with a gentle voice, "why did you give that order?"

"Order…What order? What are you talking about?" she replied weakly, but quizzically.

Suzaku was nothing short of flabbergasted. "You mean you really don't remember?" he questioned out of pure shock.

"Never mind that…Suzaku," she responded, eyes beginning to glow once more, "you're Japanese aren't you?"

Shocked, and suddenly filled with an overwhelmingly foreboding feeling of what was going through Euphie's mind, Suzaku implored her. "Euphie, what are you…?"

Cutting him off, she gasped suddenly. Her mind raced and her heart beat erratically as she fought to suppress the malignant command, manifesting itself once more in her mind. "No I- I musn't! I musn't even think such a thing. I could never harm Suzaku…" she trailed off at the end, shutting her eyes in one final effort to regain control of her mind. All the while, Suzaku watched on, unable to even comprehend what was occurring before him. Something was terribly wrong; she was not herself at all. But alas, there was nothing he could do, so all he could manage was to stare at her, mouth agape in shock.

Finally, she reopened her eyes, which seemed disturbingly sadder and less lively than they had mere seconds earlier. "How strange," she mused weakly, "I can't see your face anymore."

At that, he began to lose control. A single, rebellious tear managed to escape his eye, landing on the pin which now lay forgotten in his lap. It was joined by more of its brethren when he lovingly took the hand she offered, and discovered how nauseatingly cold she had become, in the process. He fought back the urge to vomit.

"How was the ceremony? Did I do okay? Are the Japanese happy?"

Suzaku was completely devastated. She truly had forgotten everything. The situation was bad enough as it was, but now it seemed as though he would have to relive all the terrible events that led up to it, if he was to tell his princess the truth. "Euphie…the Special Zone was…" And yet, he could not bring himself to tell her the truth, for it was now painfully clear that his princess was drawing her final breaths. He could not, in good conscience, cause her such grief when she was so near the end of her life. So, as painful as it was, he lied to her, for her protection.

"…a complete success! The Japanese people were so happy. They were given their home back, and it's all thanks to you, Euphie," he said, tears falling even more rapidly now.

"Oh thank God!" she gasped, looking as though some large weight had been lifted from her shoulders, and perhaps even her conscience. Suzaku was consoled slightly by seeing her relief, but such consolation still seemed insignificant to the inhuman level of grief he still bore. He was praying desperately to whatever god or deity might listen; hoping against all hope that this would not be the last conversation he shared with her. Unfortunately, her next words did little to give him confidence that his prayers were working.

"Keep…keep going to school, Suzaku. I had to stop…before I could finish."

"Don't talk like that Euphie, there's still time! You can still go!" Things were getting far too real for him. He wanted so desperately to sprint out of the room and deny reality. Unfortunately, he was all too aware that he was not dreaming. His princess was actually dying, and she knew it. Still, part of him refused to accept it. "I know! Why don't you enroll at Ashford Academy with me? The student council is so much fun!" The tears gushed forth anew when he realized how naïvely overoptimistic he was being.

"Euphie…" he choked.

She merely smiled at him, which did little in the way of comfort. "You have to do it…for me, Suzaku."

He gazed back at her through his tear-blurred vision, trying unsuccessfully to return her smile. Even as she lay dying, and even through his blurry vision, she still seemed strikingly beautiful to him. He was quickly filled with the desire to kiss her; to seize her mouth with his and breathe life anew into her lungs. He wanted to kiss her and rekindle their fiery, passionate love for each other that they had expressed so freely and joyously not twenty-four hours earlier. After a few seconds, though, she leaned her head back and closed her eyes, sighing in exhaustion. He knew she was too far gone for love alone to save her.

"No, Euphie don't go! Please don't go!" he screamed, but to no avail. She was so close, and yet so far gone. She whispered her last words to him, almost inaudibly.

"Oh Suzaku…I'm so happy right now…I'm so…happy…"

*BEEEEEEEEP*

The EKG flat lined. Within an instant, a cavalcade of doctors, nurses, and surgeons rushed into the room. Frantically, they did all they could to attempt to resuscitate her, but it was no use. It took three of the strongest among them to finally drag Suzaku out of the room, kicking and screaming all the way.

* * *

The door slid open, seeming to make an unusually large amount of noise as it did so. Suzaku staggered forth, ragged and defeated, into his temporary quarters aboard the _Avalon_. Large, dark rings framed the bottoms of his eyes, his hair was mussed, and his pupils were stained with red from a ceaseless, tormenting flow of tears. As he stepped into the room, the door slid shut behind him automatically. To him, it was reminiscent of a prison cell slamming shut, for he felt imprisoned by the horrible circumstances that were the day's events. All of a sudden, and seemingly without explanation, his very reason for existence – his beautiful, lovely princess − had vanished. She was gone forever. If his reason for living had disappeared, then that left only one logical conclusion…

He attempted to take a step forward, but instantly collapsed onto his hands and knees. One hand he held clutched over his heart, where a sudden, piercing pain had set in with surprising abruptness. "No…" he groaned helplessly.

It was no use. There was no way he could stop thinking about her; about their final night together; about the last words she spoke to him. Ever present in his mind was that image of endlessly long pink hair, and a grin so optimistic that it could disarm even the most hostile of foes. Though it was a pleasant memory, it now caused him nothing but pain, for he knew that it was no longer reality. She was gone. The pain in his chest grew more profound, and he clenched the fist over his heart even more forcefully. His breathing became more labored, and his groans more frequent. He began to perspire, and his vision began to blur with tears as the image in his head began to fade.

"Euphie…no…" he panted feebly.

She was still barely within arm's reach. So desperately he wanted to reach after her. At that moment, he desired nothing more than to seize her in his arms and melt into her warm, loving embrace. Unfortunately, it was no use; by the time he summoned the strength to mentally extend an arm forward, she was already moving away. The image in his mind was blurring, as was his vision. She was getting farther and farther away from him, and there was nothing he could do. It was utterly hopeless.

"Euphie!" he called in a vain effort to keep her from leaving him. It was naïve and foolish, yes, but knowing that did little to prevent him from doing so. Unfortunately for him, she was too far gone to return, for such was inevitable. How could all of this be happening to him? Just when it seemed that his life was finally taking a turn for the better, all hell had broken loose. He had met a woman more perfect than anything he had ever imagined. Yet now, so soon after they had fallen so hopelessly in love with each other, she had been viciously ripped from his arms. Could it have been that fate was simply taunting him the whole time; dangling a beautiful woman and a joyous life before him like a carrot before a donkey? Could it all have simply been a cruel joke – some twisted prank played by the forces of fate designed specifically to cause him suffering? It seemed almost too cruel to be true, and yet the more he thought about it, the more realistic it seemed. The thought did little to console him, and his princess was now slipping even farther out of his grasp.

"EUPHIE!"

No, there was no way it was true, he told himself. Certainly, the world was a cruel place, but such a level of cruelty seemed far beyond the realm of possibility. There was no way his beautiful, harmless princess could have been used like a mere pawn by the gods of fate, just to cause him further anguish. Yet all the same, he heard a distant, joyously evil cackling, mocking him. A thought came into his head – could it have been the forces of Karma at work against him? In the past, he had cruelly and selfishly robbed his own father of his life; could that action from nearly a lifetime ago now be coming back to haunt him? It made sense…too much sense. He was suddenly revolted with himself. Of course, he had felt bad about his actions, and he was not one to take murder lightly. Indeed, he had carried the deed with him for all his life. It was the driving force behind his decision to join the Brittanian military, ironically enough. But this…this went far beyond any level remorse he had felt previously. To think that murdering his father could have in turn led to the death of his beloved Euphie; it made him feel nothing less than masochistic, for he became so disgusted with himself that he began to desire physical torture as punishment. Could it really have been his fault all along?

"no…" he whispered, sobbing.

His hands balled into fists, fingers clutching the carpeted floor so tightly that they began to bleed. As much as he wanted so desperately to deny it, he was now thoroughly convinced that it was indeed all his fault. His princess – his beautiful, harmless princess, who had only wanted to bring peace and happiness to the world – had been brutally murdered in the midst of a genocide, and it was his fault. His selfish actions had led him to this point; had condemned him to failure. How badly now, he wanted to take back those foolish, idiotic actions from so long ago. Had he known back then the inhuman pain it would cause him, maybe…

Though it pained him to do so, he clenched his fists even tighter. His fingers left long, bloody red streaks in the carpet as he did so. Even still, he barely noticed it, for no amount of pain could even remotely compare to the inhuman level of torture he was experiencing within his heart and mind. It was absolutely arduous. Everything he did pained him now; it seemed that the pain worsened with every breath he took. All the while, he could still think of only one thing: his princess, who was now just a miniscule speck in the distance. That did him in. Throwing his head back, he wailed skyward in agony as half of his soul − which had fused with Euphie's in a pinnacle of mutual love on that magical evening so long ago − was brutally and viciously ripped away from him, only to be cast aside and trampled upon. A gaping, festering wound was left in its stead. Almost immediately, it seemed as though someone had thrown a bucket of salt into the wound, causing him to scream anew. There seemed to be no end to the amount of agony he was enduring. The loss of his princess was simply too traumatic; he would not have been surprised if he spent the remainder of his life in that room screaming, no matter how long or short that span of time might be. More and more the wound swelled, and the pain did indeed continue incessantly. His mind was completely empty – too overloaded with pain to be able to form any sort of conscious thought, even if he wanted to. Even as his voice grew hoarse, he continued to scream and to lament. He was so tortured that he practically reveled in the pain, approaching it fearlessly. Pain gave him purpose and meaning – the things now lacking in his life. So on and on, he wailed. Though his room was soundproof, hauntingly tortured sounds were heard several decks above, emanating from the floors.

--- --- ---

"_Geass?"_

_Suzaku repeated what the mysterious child − who had appeared on the _Avalon _seemingly out of nowhere − had just told him._

"_That's correct, Zero possesses a supernatural power known as Geass," the strange child said again._

"_No…That's impossible."_

_Suzaku was disbelieving. What reason did he have to believe this child, who referred to himself only as V.V., especially when the things he said sounded so impossibly ridiculous? As such, Suzaku's immediate reaction was to label the child as a wistful runaway who was simply being imaginative, and had somehow found his way aboard the ship. Yet that description did not quite fit the boy, for he wore clothes far too expensive-looking to belong to a stray. In fact, they almost seemed as if they were meant for royalty. Suzaku's next thought was to simply label the child as a mental case, ignore what he was saying, and escort him off the ship. Unfortunately, that theory was cast out the window as well, when the child continued speaking._

"_How then do you explain princess Euphemia's sudden change in behavior? What about you; how do you account for your own actions on Shikine Island? Believe what you want, but the truth is undeniable."_

_Suzaku was struck to the core. As far-fetched as it was, the child's argumentation made sense. Though he remembered his actions on Shikine Island, Suzaku had never stopped to consider how or why he had acted in such a manner. His life had simply gotten too busy to devote any thought to the subject, thanks in no small part to Euphie's confession of her love for him. His mood darkened once more as his thoughts returned to Euphie, lying dead in front of him. He was in such shock – both from her death and the strange child's revelation – that he hardly had time to react to it all. He swiveled in his chair to face her, lying still inside the medical capsule. He placed a hand on the cold plastic, morosely aware that her body was most likely just as cold by now. The tears came once more, and he doubted that he would be able to force them to stop, this time. Seeing this, the child turned to leave, but stopped in the threshold of the doorway, speaking one last time._

"_Suzaku Kururugi, you know what I have said is true. If you understand that, then you'll know that there is now only one logical mission for you." He paused, making sure that Suzaku was listening, then turned his head and spoke again. "You must kill Zero."_

_The door slid shut, and Suzaku was alone once more._

--- --- ---

Suzaku looked stoically determined as he zipped up his flight suit. Though it had taken an almost insurmountable level of torture and anguish to do so, he had finally realized that the strange child from before, V.V., had been right all along. There was a simpler explanation to everything that had occurred on that horrid day, and it all revolved around Zero. He should have realized it from the beginning, for only after contact with Zero did either he or Euphie begin acting strangely. The answer was so obvious, he had simply been far too devastated to think clearly, and so instead had blamed his plight on various gods that he was not certain even existed. Still, he supposed that some of the conclusions he had made during that period remained valid. He had been naïve when he fell in love with Euphie. He had been foolish enough to believe that she alone, with her kind words, could change the world and bring peace and equality to all. That certainly did not change how he felt about her, for he still loved her greatly – even more so now that she was gone − it simply changed his opinion of his own level of gullibility. Now, he realized that his initial methods were still the most reliable: focus on the mission, play by the rules, and use the system to achieve your ideals. By that logic, there was only one clear goal for him; only one clear mission for him to undertake. And if he was successful, he would get the answers he sought. As the zipper reached the top of his suit, he rolled his shoulders in preparation to set out on this most paramount of missions.

"Zero. I'm going to KILL YOU!"

Mere miles away, the one known as Zero cackled evilly beneath his mask as the entirety of Japan fell to his control, one city at a time…

* * *

**So that's about how long the time span between updates should be for this story, on average. It shouldn't be too bad, especially compared to other stories. I believe it's been exactly one month to the day that I published the first chapter, so that should give me a nice concrete schedule to work by. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this second installment of "Fate's Twisted Humor." Thanks for the favorites/alerts/reviews so far, please keep them coming! See you all next time.**


	3. Unfortunate Answers

**Thanks, as always, for the continued support. So far, this story may seem pretty identical to cannon, but don't fret, things will change shortly. Keep reviewing as you guys always have. Thanks again!**

* * *

"ZERO! ZERO! ZERO! ZERO!"

The crowd chanted incessantly, praising the name of their savior more and more emphatically with every repetition. It should have felt glorious, empowering, and satisfying to anyone, especially the egocentric Zero. But to Lelouch, the passionate adoration of the followers of his alternate identity, served only to mock him with every step he took as he morosely marched towards his mobile headquarters. Thankfully, the route he chose was deserted, and the only other person who had access to the mobile headquarters was CC, whom he would be expecting anyway. That left him alone with his remorse, at least for the time being, and he could afford to briefly shed the painful role of Zero, at least on a mental level.

His own carelessness had corrupted the mind of his sister and led to a genocide. His role as Zero forced him to then murder her, whom he had loved far more than he was willing to admit. Only now, after she was gone, did he realize how much she had meant to him; how closely intertwined their spirits were. Maybe it was the seven years' worth of separation that caused him to forget in the first place, but regardless, he remembered all too clearly now just how much he had loved her. Both possessing the minds of revolutionaries, they had shared so much in common. At one point, he had seriously considered a marriage proposal from her, despite their close familial relationship. She even gave Nunnally, who was normally second to none in his heart, some significant competition. But not anymore, for she was gone. Her image was still burned painfully into his mind, a hand extended in friendship despite the fact that society had cast them as bitter enemies. She was gone forever, and the blood was on his hands. _Euphie…_

When he finally reached his destination, he staggered into the room, stripped off his mask, and haphazardly discarded his mask on the floor, placing as much disdain and remorse as he could in the simple, yet powerful action. Having been unable to restrain his tears during his journey, he half expected several pints of water to come sloshing out of the helmet as he dropped it. As he had predicted, CC was there waiting for him, though he ignored her for the moment in favor of collapsing unceremoniously on the couch. She ignored his presence briefly as well, choosing instead to stare wistfully out the window and leave Lelouch alone with his thoughts for the time being. Even when she finally did address him, she attempted to maintain a veil of disinterest by trying to avoid the problem that was obviously ailing him.

"So, you can't turn off your geass. Have there been any other unusual changes?"

"No, it's just…" he said, trailing off.

She turned towards him, genuine concern beginning to show on her normally blank face, visually prompting him to continue.

"…Euphie…she tried to resist the power. At first I thought maybe it had weakened, but now I think…I think such a malignant command was simply against her nature."

Verbally recounting the day's events brought them to the forefront of his mind once more, and all too vividly. He began to break down, thrusting his head downward into his palms.

"It was…horrible…" he said, remorse heavy in his voice.

Unexpectedly showing some compassion, CC moved towards him, surprising him as she kneeled down in front of him and comfortingly stroked the back of his head.

"We still have our contract. I'll stay with you until the very end," she said as he sobbed profusely into her shoulder.

Despite her comforting gesture, he felt no less anguished. The murder of his beloved sister by his own hand had simply left too deep a scar to be healed by mere kindness. Such a wound could never be healed; only borne continuously as reconciliation for the indescribably horrible act that had caused it. It was impossible to ignore – a sharp, stabbing pain emanating directly from his heart. It rendered him completely incapable of coherent thought to the point where all he could do was continue weeping and lamenting. As such, it was several minutes before he finally regained his composure. When he finally regained some sense of thought, he realized that there was only one thing he could do to atone for the horrible deed he had committed.

"CC…" he said, still partially leaning onto her shoulder, "thank you…But, as much as I'm loathe to admit it, I still don't have the luxury of time to grieve right now. There is still much to be done." He stood up and walked towards the door, scooping up his mask as he did so.

"This battle…will decide the future of the world. We must prevail…for Euphie's sake. I couldn't live with myself any longer if it turned out that her sacrifice was all for naught."

With that, he put on his mask and strode out the door to face an army of thousands of Zero's followers. Ironically, it frightened him even more than the massive Brittanian army, which he was about to attack with the entire world watching his every move, fearing for its own fate.

--- --- ---

Explosions dotted the ground incessantly as Suzaku flew high above the cacophony of battle that had enveloped the entirety of the Tokyo Settlement with startling suddenness. A severe torrent of rain accompanied the battle, seeming to become more and more intense as the battle itself did so. The immense amount of water falling from the heavens gushed forth throughout the city, causing the streets to run black and red with oil, blood, and debris. It truly seemed as though the world was coming to a chaotic end, and Suzaku flew straight into the epicenter of the destruction.

The enemy was all around him, and far too numerous to even begin to count. Yet, because of the technological advantage provided to him by the Lancelot, not a single one among them could so much as lay a finger on him. All the while, he wrought havoc on their ranks. It seemed as though another dozen of them spontaneously exploded every time he so much as extended one of the Lancelot's arms. Under normal circumstances, he would have been horrified by such a slaughter, being one incredibly concerned for the wellbeing of all human life. In truth, his policy had not changed, for he still held all human life in high value and wished to avoid killing at all costs. But, therein lay the problem: he no longer saw the bastards he was killing as human. To have killed his beloved, harmless princess, surely these creatures had to be more monster than human. So he killed to his heart's content, dispensing his immeasurable rage to his enemies with each blow. Occasionally, his gaze would avert downward, where he would find a single, beautifully long strand of pink hair, still clinging rebelliously to the synthetic material of his flight suit. Time after time, it instantly reignited his fury, reminding him of what he was fighting for; reminding him of the inexcusable loss that had been placed upon his shoulders. So he continued to kill, and yet with each enemy combatant that went up in flames before him, his rage and sadness only grew to a passion as fiery as the infernos of the lifeless hulks of knightmares lying around him. And yet, no matter how many he killed, it seemed that no one – not even among his enemies – knew the answer to the question he sought.

"Where is Zero?! Tell me where he is!" he demanded uselessly as dozens more of his enemies spontaneously combusted around him. Again, it was to no avail, as he was answered only with the cacophony of the battle that surrounded him.

"Where is he GOD DAMNIT?!" he questioned again as he spun around, wiping out an entire formation of Black Knights attempting to outflank him. Once more, nobody seemed to know. He was beginning to grow so impatient that he no longer bothered to wait for an answer, choosing to simply continue his endless slaughter instead. He killed so methodically that his actions began to seem as robotic as the very machine he was piloting. On and on he killed, a lover enraged after having lost his other half so soon after their relationship had begun. Heated with rage and sorrow, he expressed his remorse the only way he was trained to do: through killing the enemy until there was no enemy left to kill. All the while, his question remained on his mind and the minds of all those around him, victim or otherwise. All the evidence pointed to only one logical conclusion: Zero had disappeared, and had most likely fled the battle. Though it made sense to no one, the validity of the fact was indisputable. As the frustration and confusion built up inside all the combatants on the massive battlefield, only one dared to verbally demand an answer.

"WHERE IS ZERO!"

* * *

_He stared wistfully at her as she slept in his arms, the sunlight of the morning glinting beautifully off of the bare flesh of her body. Even with her image distorted by a veil of sleep, he was still taken very much aback by just how beautiful she was. Though her hair was severely disheveled, and the scent of her pleasant perfume gone – replaced instead by the pungent, yet arousing scent of perspiration and pheromones, as a result of the previous night's excitement – he still found her beauty stunningly captivating. In fact, she literally did stun him with her beauty, for he found himself incapable of any reaction save for a small, satisfied grin. Perhaps he was simply being distracted by her persistent nakedness in such close proximity to his own. Regardless, he did not care so long as he was with her, and his grin only grew into a delighted smile when she stirred slightly beside him, finally awakening from her much-needed slumber. She turned over in his arms, facing towards him now. He reveled in the comforting warmth of her presence as she shifted closer to him. Slowly, her eyes began to open, instantly recognizing the smiling face of her knight, as they did so. _

"_Good morning, princess" he greeted softly, in a half-joking tone. _

_She responded simply by smiling and shifting even closer to him, wrapping her arms tightly around his torso. He returned the embrace gleefully, holding her tightly and pressing her delightfully warm flesh firmly against his._

"_I wasn't asleep for too long was I?" she asked, her voice still somewhat hoarse with sleep._

_She yawned into his shoulder, and – unnoticed by her – Suzaku found himself having to stifle a laugh. It seemed that his beloved princess was not much a morning person. He was learning more and more about her with every moment that he spent with her. He glanced briefly at the small digital clock on the nightstand behind her, so as to formulate an answer to her question. Though they had slept probably longer than they should have, there was still more than enough time to prepare for the day's events. Returning his gaze to her beautiful, smiling face, he responded to her._

"_Of course not. It's not that late yet."_

_Seemingly satisfied with the answer, she smiled, closed her eyes, and nuzzled her head closer to his chest, apparently intent on squeezing at least another five minutes' worth of rest out of the morning._

"_Good."_

_They remained in that position for several minutes, each content to simply bask in the comfort of the other's embrace. Inevitably, however, they were eventually forced to confront reality and seize the day. Lazily opening one eye, she glanced at the clock and began calculating how much time it would take for them to get ready._

"_There's still a lot of time left, but we should get ready," she said, her voice sounding far more rejuvenated and energetic than it had mere minutes earlier._

"_But, I don't think that there will be enough time for us each to shower individually," she added suggestively. Their eyes met, each of them thinking exactly the same thing, their cheeks coloring rapidly at the mere thought of it. In the end, it was Suzaku who finally voiced the sentiment._

"_Well then, I suppose we'll just have to take one together." _

_Smiling, she nodded in fervent agreement as he took her by the hand and they rose from the bed. They both blushed profusely as the covers fell aside, revealing their respective nudity to each other in the full glory of the midmorning sunlight. Undoubtedly, they were both happily recounting the previous nights' events, in their minds. Arm in arm, they walked towards the bathroom and began preparing for the long day ahead of them. What followed was a seemingly endless stream of loving caresses, soapy massages, and wet embraces. The steamy, warm water soothed them as they mingled freely under the ceaseless torrent of the showerhead. He ran his hands through her long, silky hair and across the luscious curves of her breasts while she ran hers along the smooth contours of his chest. Pleasured gasps and heated moans filled the air, eventually to the point where they even drowned out the cacophony of the water cascading down from the showerhead. They were completely lost in the remarkable sensation of soapy hands running endlessly over warm, wet flesh as they washed each other's bodies. _

_In retrospect, it probably was not a good idea, for they spent far too much time in the shower. However, when they finally finished washing and dressing, there was still just enough time to make it to the opening ceremonies for the Specially Administrated Zone of Japan. Besides, the trade off was well worth it, for they both thoroughly enjoyed their time spent together. Still, they could not afford to risk being seen walking out of Suzaku's room together, as such a sight would raise questions that they could not answer without sounding suspicious. So, they paused at the door while Suzaku peered out the peep hole to observe the hallway beyond. Thankfully, it was deserted, and they had the opportunity they needed. Turning back towards his princess, he extended his hand._

"_Are you ready to depart, your highness?"_

_She surprised him by stepping forth past his hand and seizing him in one final kiss before they would be forced to conceal their love for each other from the world for one more day._

"_I am now," she responded, smiling when they finally broke._

* * *

Lelouch's breathing and pulse were erratic as he entered the ruins on Kamine Island. What a debacle he had gotten himself into – just when it appeared that he would achieve victory in the most crucial battle of Zero's career, he had made a rookie mistake and let his guard down. Now, as a result, Nunnally – his very reason for fighting – had been kidnapped, and he knew not whether she was alive or dead. No, he refused to think like that. There was no way in hell that he was about to lose both of his most beloved sisters on the same day. He had endured enough suffering for one lifetime, and he refused to allow any more of his loved ones to be robbed from him. Once he made sure that Nunnally was safe, he would exact some well-deserved punishment on whomever it was that had taken her in the first place, and then he would return to his conquests. If he was to ensure the safety of his loved ones, the Britannian Emperor would have to die, and Lelouch was eager to see that goal achieved. First, though, he would have to return to the matter at hand. Impatiently, he began to scour the cave for any evidence that would point him in the direction of Nunnally's kidnapper, starting by examining the wall in front of him. Unfortunately, he did not get far, for the bullet that impacted the aforementioned wall mere inches away from his head told him that he had unwanted company.

Suzaku stood stoically determined several feet behind Zero, a smoking pistol held aloft in his right hand. He felt anxious, but confident. Finally, he would be able to end the life of the monster that stood before him, and in doing so, end the suffering of thousands. Finally, he would be able to pay back the bastard for what he had done to Euphie. And most importantly, he would finally be able to extract some answers from the demon that stood before him. Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself. No need to rush things. After all, Zero had caused him so much torment, it was only fitting that Suzaku prolong whatever torture he was about to exact on the demon.

"Turn and face me, very slowly."

Lelouch was nothing short of incredulous, and his thoughts swirled around in his head with intense rapidity.

"_Suzaku? At a time like this? Damnit, what am I going to do?"_

Unfortunately, there was only one thing he could do: continue playing the charade of Zero, and that meant spouting a bunch of crap about how evil Euphemia was for slaughtering so many Elevens, when he knew all too well that the blame rested with him alone. Quite frankly, he was not sure if he could bring himself to do it again. The whole experience had been far too traumatic for him, especially since he had to spew much the same propaganda immediately after he had killed his sister. Back then, it had taken everything he had to steel himself for the speech he had given, gritting his teeth and biting back sobs the entire time. Fortunately, he had thought it would be the last time he would have to go through such an experience; that he would never again have to say such horrible things about the girl he had loved, or so he thought. But now…

Behind him, Suzaku was growing impatient. "Didn't you hear me, Zero? I said turn and face me. Very slowly."

It seemed that Lelouch had run out of options. After all, he could not simply reveal himself to Suzaku. No, despite everything, the role of Zero was still a necessary one, no matter how painful a role it was to play. So, he did the only thing he knew how to do: he lied. Turning to face Suzaku, he spoke, praying that the remorse in his voice would not give him away.

"Euphemia randomly slaughtered thousands of innocent civilians. You would defend someone like that?"

In the end, it turned out that he did not have it in him to lie so heinously. How hypocritical he felt, slaughtering his beloved sister and then insulting her, blaming her for his wrongdoings. It sickened him to the point of nausea. It was too much for him, and he could not hold back the tears forever. As he spoke, a lone drop escaped the confines of his eye and rolled down his cheek. Even to Suzaku, the words sounded forced and insincere, as if the infamous Zero had suddenly lost all his passion. Perhaps it was simply because now he knew the truth. Either way, he did not care, for he knew now exactly what kind of monster Zero was.

"Your geass power is quite convenient, isn't it?" he said, largely ignoring what Zero had just said. "It allows you to hide in the shadows while others do your dirty work. That's your true nature; you're just an arrogant coward!" Lelouch was shocked. He could not even form a counter-argument like he normally would have, for he was too petrified at the thought that someone could have discovered his secret.

"Kallen," Suzaku called out suddenly, surprising Lelouch even further. He was not even aware that she was in the room. Apparently, she was just as surprised, for she refrained from firing the sidearm she had aimed squarely at Suzaku's head.

"Wouldn't you like to know Zero's true identity as well?"

Without waiting for an answer and paying no heed to the sound of Kallen's pleas behind him, he fired his sidearm directly at the top of Zero's helmet. The shot was not intended to be lethal, for he suspected that Zero's helmet would most likely be bullet-resistant. His suspicions were confirmed as the projectile ricocheted almost harmlessly off of the hardened plastic of the helmet. However, Suzaku's aim had been true, and had achieved the desired effect, for from the impact site of the bullet sprang a fissure that quickly expanded to divide the entire mask in half. Suddenly and dramatically, the entire mask forcefully split apart, sending the two halves cascading to the barren floor below. However, they went largely unnoticed, for far more intriguing was the face of the man behind the mask, finally revealed to those who had sought the answer longest. As it turned out, it was the last person Suzaku had expected to find beneath the mask that had caused the deaths of so many: it was none other than his long time friend, Lelouch Vi Britannia.

Kallen was so stunned that she fled almost immediately, while Suzaku found himself rooted to the spot by much the same emotion, though he displayed none of it on his face. He merely regarded his murderous friend, standing not but a few feet away from him, with an expression of pure disgust and disappointment. Lelouch could barely muster a hastily constructed mask of indifference in response, still grieving heavily, unbeknownst to his longtime friend. It seemed now that his efforts would all go to waste, as he had feared. His secret was out, and he was on the verge of capture – at the hands of his only friend, no less. A thick shroud of silence choked the atmosphere of the room as the two former acquaintances intensely stared each other down. Finally, Suzaku broke the silence, continuing to keep his firearm carefully trained on his friend, as he did so.

"I didn't want it to be you," he said in an almost scolding tone. He meant what he had said far more literally than Lelouch probably understood. How could his best friend of more than seven years be the same murdering extremist that had robbed him of his life's greatest love? The entire scenario was so ridiculous that he was beginning to re-examine his original theory regarding the cause of the day's horrific events; for the irony before him was simply too great. It seemed as though he was correct in his initial assumption that the horrors he had been forced through were simply the forces of fate toying with him. Could he really be nothing more than a mere ragdoll for the gods of fate to kick around for their own entertainment? The thought did little to improve his mood. Shaking himself from his broody train of thought, he returned to the matter at hand, where he was faced with an immense dilemma. His heart still burned with the desire for revenge – almost as much as it burned with the desire to feel the soothing sensation of the warm embrace of his beloved princess, once more. Yet, he could not simply kill such a close friend…could he? The firearm in his hand remained pointing squarely at Lelouch's chest.

Though he did not show it, Lelouch found himself deeply pained by the words, as if they had pierced his already wounded heart. Perhaps it was because of the hint of disappointment he detected in his friend's voice. It drove home the point that he was now truly alone. First, he had been forced – no, he would not use that excuse any more, he would admit to what he had done − he had murdered his own, beloved sister, and for what gain? It seemed that all he had accomplished from that action was to have yet another of his most cherished loved ones stolen from him. And now, it seemed as though his only true friend would soon abandon him – or worse – out of sheer disgust for what he had become. Despite the severe mental trauma burdening him, the wheels in his head kept turning, as if of their own accord. As was always the case with him, his mind critically examined the situation, searching for a way out, or at the very least for a method to pacify is clearly enraged friend. In the end, however, the harsh disappointment of Suzaku's affirmation and the suffocating silence that followed moved Lelouch to action before he could come up with a suitable plan.

"Yes, I am Zero. The one who controls the Black Knights. The one who holds the fate of the world in his hands," he admitted weakly, as if expecting the unenthusiastic, insincere confession to appease his friend. Again choosing to largely ignore the words of his friend, as well as the burdened, remorseful manner in which they were spoken, Suzaku continued with his interrogation.

"Zero…you killed Euphie," he began, not bothering to dignify his friend by using his real name. When he was answered only with silence, all restraint was lost, and he finally unleashed the fury he had kept largely concealed for what seemed like an eternity.

"WHY?! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO KILL HER? SURELY THERE MUST HAVE BEEN SOME OTHER WAY!" he spat, the rage in his voice burning through Lelouch's soul like some corrosive venom.

Suzaku's accusations took their toll on Lelouch, deepening the already colossal wound in his heart. Now, so grave was the pain that he began to lose his grip on reality, and raw emotion began to overwhelm his senses. Finally, all other options exhausted, he chose the only other possible action remaining in his arsenal to ward off insanity: he converted his pain and anguish into rage and fury.

"So what?" he asked, much to Suzaku's shock and disbelief. "Do you still mourn her?" he continued with a sneer, "the deed has been done, it's in the past now."

"Past…?" Suzaku muttered incredulously. Lelouch gave him no respite.

"Yes, it's over and done with. Forget about the past, Suzaku. You should focus on what's important: the present, here and now."

Suzaku remained paralyzed with disbelief, and even Lelouch was beginning to feel disturbed by his own sudden transformation. However, that did little to stop him from continuing to scold his friend with hollow words that meant nothing to him, in reality.

"That's why you should forget her, Suzaku. FORGET EUPHEMIA!"

Suddenly, as if by the mere mention of her name, the entire ground illuminated with a brilliant red light to form the unmistakable sigil of geass. The still, decrepit atmosphere of the room seemed to change as well, suddenly electrified and filled with energy. Before long, the entire cave began to tremble violently, dislodging large rocks and various other pieces of debris from the ceiling, and sending them hurtling down towards the floor. All the while, the two former companions stood paralyzed, and could only stare at the floor, mouths agape in shock. However, it was not long before Suzaku recognized the symbol that had appeared before them on the floor − the symbol that stood for everything that had caused him anguish over the past year. The mere sight of it was enough to easily reignite his rage with a newfound passion.

"ZERO! What demonic powers are you summoning now?!" he raged, again not bothering to dignify his friend with the use of his proper name. Lelouch could only stammer in response, for he was as surprised as Suzaku.

"No, you've got it wrong! None of this is my doing!" he offered weakly, like a child caught in some wrongdoing by its parent.

"Even when the truth is so blatant, you still continue to lie to the very end! What kind of monster have you become, Lelouch?"

Lelouch said nothing, but grew even more frustrated, nonetheless. Though Suzaku's assumption about that particular scenario were incorrect, his analysis regarding the nature of Lelouch's tendency to lie were spot on, and that only angered him further. Around them, the cave continued to disintegrate violently, mirroring exactly the chaotic mindset of both the terrorist and the knight.

"You've become so depraved…your very existence is nothing but a mistake!" Suzaku lashed out, voice weighted with immense anger.

The world falling to pieces around him, Lelouch finally submitted to the same, maddening sense of fury that had his friend in such an uproar. Quickly drawing his own sidearm and bringing it to bear, he lashed out with just as much hatred.

"SUZAKU!!"

"LELOUCH!!"


	4. Awakening from the Past

_Euphemia sighed disappointedly for what must have been the thousandth time. Her sister could be so intolerably boring at times._

"_Why can't you come with me Cornelia? We just landed here; it would make sense for the new viceroy to tour the city."_

_With an annoying glare of impatience, Cornelia dashed Euphemia's hopes of spending some quality time with her sister yet again. "Euphie, I'm sorry, but if you want to take a tour of the city, you'll have to go by yourself. There are policy changes of vital importance that I must see to immediately. Perhaps you'll understand one day, when you make your glorious debut into the world of politics," she said, emphasizing the last phrase with as much of a mocking tone as she could muster, for she knew that her sister was not exactly the politically astute type._

_Immediately, she regretted it, for Euphemia's expression turned from hopeful to downtrodden and depressed in less than a heartbeat. Much to her chagrin, Cornelia found herself empathetic; she simply could not resist the pouting face of the younger sister she adored so much. Surrendering to her maternal instincts, she smiled softly and placed a comforting hand on her sister's cheek._

"_Don't worry. This won't take long. Once I'm finished, we can tour the rest of the city together," she said as Euphemia looked up at her. She paused before reluctantly adding through clenched teeth, "and then you can take me to all the best clothing stores you find." _

_Euphemia's face instantly lit up, though again, much to Cornelia's chagrin. Obviously, she was intent on doing exactly that. Knowing all too well her sister's girlish obsession with shopping, Cornelia no longer expected the week to be quite as productive as she had hoped. If it meant preserving her beloved sister's happiness, however, the sacrifice was well worth it._

"_I have to go now. I'll meet up with you once I'm done at the government bureau." With that, she stepped into the limousine waiting for her, and was promptly sped off of the tarmac towards the bureau. _

_Euphemia stood still and stoically watched as the limousine faded from view. It was several minutes before one of her assistants finally spoke up, shaking her out of her trance. _

"_Your highness, we are ready to depart whenever you are. And we have conscripted a loyal Eleven who is very familiar with all the ins and outs of the Tokyo Settlement to be your driver."_

_She sighed softly in response. "Yes, of course." Slowly, she turned and stepped into the limo waiting behind her. Before long, an entire motorcade of Britannian security vehicles made its way out of the airstrip and began a tour of the entire city for their endeared princess._

--- --- ---

"_And to the left of us now is Tokyo tower – one of the tallest buildings in the entire Tokyo Settlement. On the highest floor is a small museum dedicated to the history of Area Eleven. You may want to visit it later," Euphemia's driver said apathetically. _

_Ever since the tour had begun, the driver had ignored her for the most part, speaking only when necessary. When he did speak, he sounded incredibly bored; almost annoyed. At times, Euphemia thought she even detected a faint trace of hatred in the driver's clearly disgruntled tone. She could hardly blame the man. Though discrimination against the numbers was one of Britannia's core policies, Euphemia personally opposed the idea. Yet at the same time, she did not wish to display this openly. Being a princess of the very empire that enforced those ideals, such countercultural behavior would be seen as incredibly hypocritical, and would only end badly for her. As such, she tried not to offend the Japanese man driving her around his conquered homeland, yet at the same time tried to conceal her unwillingness to put herself above him. It was no wonder that the interior of the limousine remained silent for the balance of the tour. Unfortunately, that meant that the atmosphere was becoming more and more awkward and uncomfortable with every passing second. Euphemia hoped the tour would end soon so that she might rendezvous with her sister and torture her with several hours of hopping. The thought made her smile meagerly. However, the increasingly annoyed-sounding voice of her driver interrupted these thoughts._

"_Our last destination is just up ahead, and then we'll head towards the government bureau."_

"_Yes, very well," she stammered awkwardly in reply, sighing silently in relief that the tour was ending. Unfortunately for her, Euphemia did not have the luxury of time to sink back into her thoughts, for things began happening very quickly after the driver's brief announcement. _

_Suddenly, out of nowhere, a high caliber bullet penetrated the passenger window of her limo, instantly killing the security guard sitting next to her. Before she could so much as scream, she peered out the recently created bullet hole and caught a glimpse of several trails of exhaust streaming towards the motorcade. RPGs. Within an instant, every other vehicle in their large convoy went up in a brilliant display of smoke and fire, leaving the streets cluttered with wreckage and totally impassible. Euphemia sat where she was, totally paralyzed; mouth agape in shock. So sudden was the attack that she did not even have sufficient time to begin forming tears over the dozens of men that had surely just been lost. Instead, she could only react by screaming as the limo suddenly made a sharp, hairpin turn and sped into a dark, abandoned, underground tunnel. _

_They continued speeding along for several minutes, though the tunnel was so dark that Euphemia could not have been certain as to precisely where they were and how far into the tunnel they had traversed. She was so terrified by the sheer suddenness of her predicament that she could only muster the occasional timorous whimper or lamenting tear in response. Much to his character, the driver had not spoken once. Eventually, however, they came jolting to a stop, causing her to squeal with fear yet again. Before the driver even turned off the ignition, the passenger door was forced open and she was ruthlessly grabbed and unceremoniously tossed out of the limo. Clearly, this man had a veritable army of accomplices._

_Disoriented, sprawled and scuffed on the ground in the dark tunnel as she was, she struggled to absorb her surroundings. Immediately, she was surrounded by several men. She was backed up against the wall of the tunnel. Eventually, her terrified eyes adjusted to the darkness, and she was able to look upon her captors. Instantly, and somewhat obviously by this point, she recognized that they were all Japanese. Four of them had RPGs strapped to their backs, and one of them was cleaning a scoped rifle in a corner near the abandoned limousine. A man, who she recognized as none other than her "loyal" driver, stepped forward, a pistol held aloft in his left hand. Instantly, she remembered just how terrified she was, and she feebly held a hand in front of her face, as if believing that would protect her from the danger she now faced._

"_What do you want from me?" she asked shakily. The driver merely laughed in response, thinking the statement genuinely funny. It was the most emotion he had yet displayed in her presence, and the sheer irony of it was not lost on her, despite her terrified state._

"_What do we want? Such a stupid question…though expectable coming from an idiotic Britannian pig such as yourself." She could only stare back at him, timorously paralyzed. Tears were beginning to form under her eyes, and left long streaks on her face where they intersected with the dirt smudged across her cheeks._

"_You Britannian dogs stole our homeland from us. You hold yourselves above us and oppress us daily, yet you maintain that we are the savages. I find such hypocrisy to be nauseating. But that doesn't quite answer why you, specifically, were brought here." He smirked in anticipation of his plan coming to fruition. "You, little girl, are the embodiment of that empire of savages; the bastards that stole the virgin purity of our land. It's pretty and harmless faces like yours that they hold up on a pedestal, claiming that their 'superior' empire is nothing but charitable, loving, and benign. In essence, YOU are the embodiment of all the lies of the most evil empire this world has ever known." He began laughing again as he raised the pistol to align it squarely with Euphemia's forehead. She was terrified of what was to come, and the tears were now falling without restraint. Unable to argue with the man or even react in any way, she could only sob weakly in response._

"_And surely even your weak, backwards ideologies and upbringings must teach of the evils of lies. They must be eradicated from the world! So you see, this was simply inevitable. Now then: GOODBYE, LIAR!" he yelled with an evil sneer. His finger tightened on the trigger. Euphemia shut her eyes tightly and waited fearfully for the sound of the gunshot that she knew would be the last thing she would hear before she died, but the sound never came. Instead, all she heard was the disembodied voice of a man she could not see. Perhaps it was her guardian angel, come down from heaven to rescue her…_

"_So, this is what the 'glorious' Japanese resistance movement has degraded to? Murdering innocent young women in a dank, deserted tunnel? How pitiful."_

_Furious that the greatest achievement of his life was being interrupted, the driver spun around to face the disturbance. Even Euphemia's fearful sobs had ceased, filled with bewilderment, as were her captors, at the knowledge that someone had followed them._

"_SHOW YOURSELF!" the driver screamed lividly._

_Out of the darkness strode a green-haired young man with piercing, amber eyes; apparently, he was not much more than a year or two older than Euphemia. He had appeared several yards to the left of where Euphemia's captors had been staring, though this seemed to faze them little. The youth stared each of them down with stoic intensity. However, too angry to be frightened, the Japanese resistance fighters sprang into action. The men surrounding Euphemia moved quickly, and they each grabbed a hold of him, though the mysterious young man seemed indifferent, even uncaring, to what was happening. Instead, his eyes locked with Euphemia's, and briefly, she thought she saw them change from their piercing intensity to a soft, reassuring glance. The driver – it was obvious now that he was their leader – stepped between them, and stood uncomfortably close to the mysterious young man's face, though he still showed no sign of worry or discomfort._

"_As you can see, we are currently in the middle of something, and it was very rude of you to interrupt."_

"_I could easily argue that your treatment of this innocent girl was equally, if not far more, rude than my interruption," the youth responded defiantly._

_The leader smirked, and dropped his gaze to the floor arrogantly before locking eyes with the boy again._

"_Well, then. I suppose the only solution would be to dispose of you, seeing as I can't simply let you leave and bring the authorities after us."_

_With an equal amount of overconfidence, the youth replied: "I had hoped you would say that."_

_Suddenly, a partially smothered, yet still brilliantly luminous red glow emitted from beneath the tank top he wore, emanating from just above the left side of his hip. Within seconds, the men holding on to him were screaming in pain or terror – Euphemia could not tell which – and all dropped to the floor with surprising simultaneity. Before the leader could react to such a startling and unexpected sight, the youth cold-cocked him, sending him to the floor to join his compatriots. Euphemia was even more terrified by this act, for it was apparent that this young man – if he was indeed human – possessed some strange and unimaginable power. Had he killed those men who had touched him? If so, that could only make him some humanoid incarnation of the grim reaper. Euphemia shook uncontrollably as he approached her, calmly. Unexpectedly, however, he spoke to her in a calm, reassuring tone, and the man who had possibly just killed several people without so much as touching them suddenly seemed about as harmful as a puppy._

"_Come with me. We should leave before they wake up. I can't imagine their tempers will have improved any by that time," he said, extending a helping hand down towards her._

_Relieved that her fears − regarding whether or not the Japanese fighters were alive − had been alleviated, Euphemia gratefully took the hand he offered and gingerly stood up. However, she found that her vocal cords still seemed to be paralyzed with shock, so she could manage only an awkward smile in response. After allowing her to stand and dust herself off, the man began walking, though unexpectedly going in the same direction that the limousine had been traveling in when it had entered the tunnel, rather than taking the same route it had used to enter. Suddenly finding herself filled with an insatiable curiosity, Euphemia eagerly began following her mysterious savior._

--- --- ---

_Their footsteps echoed loudly, reverberating off the damp, concrete walls of the abandoned underground tunnel. They had been walking for several minutes in silence, Euphemia awkwardly stumbling along after her unexpected savior. The initial shock of her encounter had somewhat worn off, though she still felt incredibly tense, and shivered involuntarily at regular intervals. Thankfully, she found that her voice had returned to her, so she decided to distract herself by feeding her curiosity. So, she began pestering the young man with a relentless torrent of questions, his mostly silent responses increasing the awkwardness of the atmosphere with every query._

"_Why are we walking in this direction? The entrance the limo used was back the other way," she began._

"_There's another, closer exit this way. Besides, they'd be expecting us to take the other route."_

"_Oh…" she replied meagerly. Changing the subject, she began prodding him from a different angle, hoping she could inadvertently extract some information from him and learn more about who he was, in the process._

"_I never got the chance to thank you."_

"_There's no need to do that. It was my decision to act the way I did."_

_Euphemia frowned, beginning to grow frustrated. She decided to be a little more direct, hoping he would take the hint. It did not have quite the desired effect._

"_Why did you do it, anyway? Save me, that is."_

"_Why would I save an innocent girl from a handful of murderous savages? What an odd question. If you didn't wish to be saved, then I apologize, and I will take you back the way we came right now."_

"_No, no! That's not it. I was just…curious…" she stammered awkwardly in her defense. She was growing even more impatient – annoyed, even – as they continued to walk onward in silence. However, she could tell that he had been true to his word, and that they were getting closer to the surface. Though the tunnel looked dank and uninviting as ever, she could hear louder and more clearly the horns and engines of the street traffic nearby with every step they took. Before they could reach their destination, however, Euphie's impatience – and perhaps her nerves – got the better of her._

"_Who are you, anyway?" she blurted out, unable to contain herself any longer._

_As soon as the words left her mouth, her savior froze in his tracks, and gazed at the floor in silence, as if contemplating some information of great consequence. When he finally spoke to her, he did so without facing her._

"_Who am I? That's not an easy question to answer, for an immortal being like myself has no use for a name. That means the only method I have of describing who I am would be to elaborately detail for you my personality, thoughts, opinions, and a myriad of other details that make me who I am. As such, it seems impossible to concisely answer such a question without the provision of a name, despite the fact that – for all intents and purposes – I have none." Euphie's eyes widened as her suspicions regarding his strange nature were confirmed. He continued his stunning revelation to her._

"_Over the last several centuries, I've had countless names. But, they all lie useless gathering dust on a shelf somewhere, now. It seems rather redundant, or perhaps futile for me to invent yet another name for myself which will simply end up in the same deplorable state of disuse. As such, I think there is only one way I can feasibly answer your question. Who am I? You can call me B.B."_

_Euphemia was rendered speechless with shock, yet her curiosity was more insatiable than ever. She was fascinated with the seemingly young man standing before her. His struggle with the consequences of immortality, there was something so…poetic…about it. Who was this mysterious, immortal man? Finally looking up at her, he smiled wryly and even snickered lightly._

"_I know what you're trying to do. You're trying to gain information out of me – perhaps even decipher me – under the guise of idle conversation. While I certainly have no aversion to this and am flattered by your curiosity, now is not the time to discuss such…" he paused, searching for the right word "…weighty matters." She smiled bashfully in return, like a child caught in the middle of some mischievous act. This man, the one who called himself BB, was certainly intelligent._

"_Instead, I think we should focus on you, for the time being," he continued. "First, let's see what I can deduce from the brief amount of time that you were in the captivity of those men. I think it's fairly obvious that you must be of some sort of noble – or even more likely, royal – descent; otherwise those men would have little interest in holding you hostage. You arrived in a limousine, which was quite unusual. Since their leader was dressed unusually well compared to the rest of his men, he was probably posing as the driver. If it was necessary that you conscript a driver and a limousine, then you most likely just recently arrived, and with the recent death of Viceroy Clovis, I think that validates my previous assumption that you are of royal descent. If I'm correct, you arrived here with Clovis's replacement, and it is already well known that he is to be replaced this very afternoon by her highness Princess Cornelia. Therefore, all the facts at hand lead me to believe that you, young lady, must be the younger sibling of Princess Cornelia. How's that for an educated guess?"_

_Euphemia was stunned by his amazing deductive capacity, and was only able to once again reply with the same, bashful smile of guilt. BB smirked arrogantly, for her silence spoke volumes._

"_And so my streak continues. Over four centuries and I've still yet to be incorrect in situations like these. I suppose it is worth some consolation that my intellect remains so well intact after so many years," he said, stealthily giving away some much sought-after information in his reply to Euphemia. She now knew how long he had been blessed with the curse of immortality._

"_Now, however, why don't you tell me a little bit about who you are? For starters, why do you think those men were after you? What actions have you, personally, taken in your life that may have antagonized these people?" She turned more sullen at that, knowing all too well what her answer was going to be._

"_Nothing, really, and I mean that as literally as possible," she began. "I've accomplished nothing with my life. I've lived solely off of what has been provided for me by virtue of my birth and my family status. The only reason they wanted me was because of what I represented, not because of anything I had done. But surely you must have heard them talking, and if you are that adept at making calculated deductions, then you must know that already." _

_She lifted her head to face him, and something in his eyes seemed to convey that he was, in fact, aware of her lot in life, and why the Japanese had wanted her. But then why was he making her admit it on her own? She did not bother pondering the strange conundrum, choosing instead to continue relating the sadly boring tale of her life._

"_To make matters worse, I tend not to agree with Britannia's policy of discriminating against the numbers. I know that sounds horribly hypocritical coming from the likes of me, but it's just who I am. It makes me so sad to see the people forced into such extreme states of open rebellion because of policies like that," she finished, a tear beginning to form underneath her left eye._

_Unexpectedly, the last portion of her tale had brought a smile to BB's face, and a sudden, devious gleam to his eyes. She had known him for less than an hour now, but already she could tell that he was considering an idea that entertained him greatly. Her suspicions were only confirmed when he addressed her again._

"_You desire to enact change, but lack the power or influence to do so, is that right?" he said, quite accurately summing up her predicament. Euphemia already knew better than to reply to him with a 'yes' or 'no,' for it was clear that he already knew. Instead, she merely stared questioningly back at him, for what she did not know was exactly what he was planning._

"_If that's the case, then I may have more of a reason to stick around than I initially thought. I'd like to propose a deal." Her eyes widened and her left eyebrow arched, peaked with curiosity once again. Already, he had a horribly consistent habit of being able to so easily arouse her interest. Seeing this, he smirked victoriously and continued with his proposal._

"_I will grant you the power you seek. You will be able to mold and shape this world however you want, and you will be able to bring happiness to all those around you, just as you wished. All I ask in return is that, in the future, you must grant one wish of mine, unconditionally." She approached him, mouth now slightly agape in disbelief at what he was telling her._

"_I never did catch your name, by the way," he said when she was but an arm's length away._

"_I'm surprised you haven't guessed by now, but I suppose I can't be too shocked, since I'm too young to have been formally introduced to the public yet," she replied, somewhat teasingly. She could tell that she had irked him somewhat with that statement, which delighted her. It was about time that she had returned the favor, in that regard. However, the time for fun and games was over._

"_I am Euphemia Li Britannia," she exclaimed proudly. Smiling warmly in return, he addressed her once more._

"_Well, Euphemia, what do you say? Will you accept the contract I have proposed to you?" he said, offering his hand._

"_Yes. I agree to the terms you have proposed," she said, grasping his hand confidently. Suddenly, she felt herself being overwhelmed by an astounding influx of energy. It seemed as though the very atmosphere of the tunnel had been electrified. Within a few seconds, the startling flux of energy had dissipated, and she now only felt an immense power emanating from her left eye._

--- --- ---

As the images of the memory of her first encounter with BB faded, Euphemia awoke with a start amidst a brilliant flash of red light, gasping for breath. She knew immediately that everything had changed…

* * *

**Finally, some originality! Thanks to all for your continued support, and please review and favorite this as you all do so loyally. Apologies for the somewhat longer delays lately; the holiday and post-holiday madness kind of caught up with me. However, I already know that I'll have quite a bit of free time in the next week or two, and I plan to get some serious writing done, so expect a lot more updates more frequently. Also, I'm pleased to announce that I have finished setting up my new photobucket album, dedicated to CG pictures I have found that I think best illustrate some of the more profound moments of my stories. Check it out at my profile page. Thanks again all, and I'll see you again soon.**


	5. Truth Revealed

**Judging by the number of favorites this story is getting, I think it's safe to say that you guys are liking it, or at least that's what I hope. What seems weird to me is the surprising lack of reviews. Please, tell me what you guys think! I'm open to any kind of criticism, as I always have been. So, when you finish reading this chapter (and future chapters to come) please drop a tiny little piece of text telling me what you think, how you felt, anything really. Thanks, as always. Now I'll shut up.**

* * *

Euphemia staggered forth unto darkness, clutching the sides of her head in agony and confusion. As soon as she had drawn the first breath of her new life, she had been assailed with an incessant torrent of mental images and memories, all flooding her brain simultaneously. Keeping up with what she was seeing was difficult enough, but what made it so taxing was the sheer nature of what she saw. Japanese people. Thousands of them. All were lying dead and bloodied in the streets. At first, only images came to her, but now the sounds of her memory were beginning to return to her as well, and in an equally oppressive fashion. She could hear their screams; their anguished cries of torment and lamentation. It was bone-chilling, not to mention nauseating. Such carnage and such torment were exactly the kind of maliciousness that Euphemia hated to see most. She had tried to change the world such that those scenarios would never again occur, by establishing the Specially Administrated Zone of Japan. Though she knew not what became of the zone – especially since she found herself on her deathbed without even remembering how she had gotten there – she at least took solace in the fact that she had tried to change the world for the better. But as more and more of the memory returned to her, she was beginning to doubt even herself, for she heard a voice that shocked her so much, she stopped dead in her tracks. It was her own.

"_All those within the sound of my voice, seek out and kill all the Japanese! We must eradicate them all!"_

She collapsed to the floor, tears falling rapidly from her eyes. She was in absolute disbelief, refusing to accept that she had ordered the slaughter of those people. She had tried to eliminate the line between Britannians and Japanese, not reinforce it with such unimaginably inhuman brutality! And yet, something in the back of her mind seemed to indicate the undeniable validity of the images she saw. She had slaughtered the Japanese.

"How?!" she asked herself uselessly, between heavy sobs. "How could this have happened? What could possibly make me do such a thing?"

Now, she welcomed the rapid torrent of mental images with open arms, hoping that they would at least give her some kind of answer. But the flow of images had abruptly ceased. Desperately, she began to probe the deepest recesses of her mind, but to no avail. For now, it seemed that she would simply have to live with the excruciating gaps in her memory. So, for the moment, it seemed to her that she had simply been welcoming the Japanese to their new home in one moment, and then slaughtering them with rifle in hand, in the next.

It was then that she realized she had no idea where she was. Looking up, she desperately searched for landmarks through her blurred, tear-filled vision, so as to gain an idea of where she had wandered after escaping from the hospital morgue. Now, she found herself in an abandoned alley, on the edge of the Tokyo Settlement. It seemed typical enough. She was clearly in a low income zone, for all the buildings around her were in shambles, and most looked abandoned. There were few people around, and it was immediately obvious that none of them were of noble descent, or even middle class for that matter. While this was all useful information, and would guarantee that she would not be recognized by anyone in the vicinity, it helped her little in the way of formulating a plan. She had no idea where to go next to find out for sure what had happened on that fateful day. Blinking the tears out of her eyes, she saw a number of homeless people – they were all Japanese – huddled around an old, decrepit television set. As they were blocking her view, she couldn't see exactly what they were seeing, but she could just barely make out the headline: "PRINCESS EUPHEMIA STATE FUNERAL."

It seemed unusual that they would be hosting a funeral, as such would indicate that they had already discovered that the body had disappeared, but decided to proceed with the funeral anyway. At the moment, however, Euphemia was too preoccupied with her thoughts to recognize this oddity. Instead, she was intent on discovering what had happened that day; what had caused such a drastic change in her mindset. The best way she could think of was to find out how she had died, and what better way to do that than to attend her own funeral? Looking back and forth several times to make sure no one was observing her, she ducked back deeper into the abandoned alley. Though she knew not why she had ordered the slaughter of so many, she knew that she was now an outcast. The Britannians would no longer accept her, even if they knew she was alive. And even if she were to reveal herself and regain her royal status, the Japanese would undoubtedly never trust her again. She would probably never be able to show herself in public again. As such, it was apparent that she would have to operate in secrecy. So, rushing even deeper into the darkness, she mingled with the shadows and hurried off towards her next destination.

* * *

It was the day of the funeral, and Cornelia was nowhere to be found. Valiantly, the servants, orderlies, and officers of the government bureau all searched for her, but none of them could possibly guess where she had actually gone. In reality, she had returned to the same location she had haunted just prior to the Black Rebellion: Euphie's bedroom. Now, she assumed much the same demeanor she had back then; completely silent, sprawled out on the floor, staring with dead eyes towards the picture of her beloved little sister hanging over her head, and looking far more disheveled than any royal princess ought to look.

From this sight alone, it was painfully obvious that she was thinking about the events surrounding her sister's death. Lost deep in mourning and lamentation, she had not the will to respond to the calls of her name, which she heard in the hallway, outside the room. In her mind, she replayed the events of that day over and over again, struggling to put two and two together, and find some sort of explanation for what had happened that day. What had caused her sister's drastic change in attitude? Why did she have to die? None of it made sense. She knew that there was no way Euphie would act the way she did without some sort of coercion. Someone had forced her to do it. But who, why, and how? These questions did little to comfort Cornelia, and only frustrated her even more. As such, she refused to attend the funeral until she had sorted things out for herself. Undoubtedly, the funeral itself would be constructed solely of lies, and spout some crap about how Euphemia had died valiantly for her country. Once again, this thought did little to soothe Cornelia, who suddenly and violently lashed out, smashing a ceramic pot nearby. She was too livid for words.

It was then that she remembered something that a strange, long-haired boy had told her recently. Something about a supernatural power of Zero's that may have had to do with Euphemia's sudden change in behavior. Eyes narrowing with pure rage, she now understood what was behind everything that occurred that day.

"Geass…" she said, the loathing practically tangible in her voice.

It was the most barbaric weapon ever used on humans, she deemed, and as such, those who used it should be punished severely. She had made up her mind. She would find those who created and used this power and make them pay dearly. Only then could she wipe the stain from Euphie's name.

One of the servants at the government bureau finally had the bright idea of searching Euphie's room.

"Princess Cornelia, are you in there?" He asked, knocking on the door before finally opening it. Taking a quick survey of the interior of the room, he realized it was totally deserted. He shut the door.

"It's empty, just like all the others. Let's restart the search from the top, down."

What he did not notice was an open window in Euphemia's room, the curtains now fluttering in the breeze. Cornelia had already made good her escape, and would soon make good her revenge.

* * *

"We are gathered here today to acknowledge the unfortunate departure of one of our most beloved royals into the afterlife."

Euphemia was surprised to discover just how secluded her funeral was. It was located in an old, rundown chapel located far outside of the city limits of the Tokyo Settlement. There were also fewer than one hundred guests, and ironically, she recognized few of them. Clearly, they were trying to prevent anyone from discovering the location of the funeral, despite the fact that there were TV cameras everywhere. Recalling the events she had recently uncovered in her memory, she thought she knew why, and the thought sickened her. Focusing on the task at hand, she regained her composure and paid attention to the ceremony, hoping to hear something that would give her a clue as to where she should go next, and what she should do.

Obviously not wanting to be found at her own funeral, she lurked in the shadows on the periphery of the area. It was surprising how quickly she had taken to operating in such a stealthy, somewhat depressing manner. She found it so easy to move with incredible freedom without anyone even noticing her. Her small stature was useful in that regard, for she was easily able to silence her footsteps as well. She now reflected on all this, realizing how easily she had gotten to the chapel on foot without anyone so much as turning their heads in her direction. It seemed that the shadows practically welcomed her with open arms. She shivered, her own choice of descriptive words disturbing her with their uncanny accuracy.

She had to admit, despite the secretive and secluded nature of the funeral, no expense was spared in hosting it, as would be expected for the funeral of a royal princess. The entire chapel was decorated lavishly with pink roses, though even they seemed to be wilting in the sorrowful atmosphere. Though it disturbed her to look at it too much, the casket caught her attention with ease. Again, she had to admit that it was quite stunning – beautiful, even. It was painted with a lovely pattern of white and pink, quite affinitive to her tastes.

Shaking herself out of it once again, she returned her attention to the ceremony itself. In retrospect, it was not a very good idea, for she found it difficult to remain awake during the reverend's boring lamentations. He was so boring that he was actually causing Euphemia to fall asleep at her own funeral; the irony was not lost on her. In an attempt to stay awake, she decided to focus her attention elsewhere. The reverend probably would not say anything helpful at the moment, she decided. So instead, she began to survey the guests to see exactly who was invited. Interestingly enough, most of the guests were of noble descent, but almost none of them were from the royal family. She inspected the front-most rows especially, and made a startling discovery.

_Father is not here?! What could be so important that he would miss his own daughter's funeral?_

She did not get the chance to ponder this strange new outcome, for as the ceremony began to wrap up, the reverend's words finally became useful.

"And before we depart today, let us take a moment to remember all those in the royal family who have died so tragically in these past few, tumultuous years. Prince Clovis, now Princess Euphemia, and of course let us not forget the lovely Princess Nunnally and young Prince Lelouch."

_Lelouch!_

Moving quickly, she darted out of the door before anyone could notice her, and left the chapel grounds before the guests could exit and discover her. She now had a new target, a goal, and another piece of her missing memory. Even as she fled, the images began pouring into her mind once more.

She was in a dark, deserted room – the control center at the opening ceremonies for the SAZ. Lelouch was in the room with her, wearing some ridiculous outfit – _that's right! He was Zero!_ Now she remembered, they were discussing how the Black Knights would act with regard to the SAZ. It had seemed to be going well; she had finally gotten him to join her side – though not as her subordinate, he reminded her. But then…

"_No, you don't understand. When I order people to do something, they cannot resist me. For example, if I told you to kill all the Japanese, it wouldn't matter how you felt about it."_

She was stunned. It was him. He ordered her to do it. But why would she submit so easily? Her eyes widened in realization.

_He must have had a geass…just like me…_

Not allowing her the chance to recover from this shocking revelation, the torrent of mental images kept coming, though now it seemed they had jumped forward in time to a different scene. Now she saw zero aiming his gun at her. She saw a brilliant flash of light emanate from the barrel, and then the memories faded and disappeared. She collapsed to the ground, tears cascading down her face, her breath lost to grieving sobs.

_It was him?! Lelouch killed me? Why…why would he order me to enact such a horrible slaughter and then kill me? Lelouch…Nunnally…this was supposed to reunite us! What happened?_

There had to be more to it; she was convinced that there was still more she was not remembering. Through her tears and her sobs, she struggled to recall anything useful, but again to no avail. For the moment, it seemed as though her beloved brother had simply murdered her in cold blood, after using her for his dirty work.

"Oh God…" she cried through her endless tears. She felt violated, yet she still did not want to believe that what she was seeing was true. She knew Lelouch, and knew how much he loved her. He could never willingly do something like this to her. Were all those memories of happy days spent together as young children in the imperial capital mere lies? It seemed impossible, but all evidence was pointing her to the fact that it had all been some elaborate scheme.

Though each revelation seemed more painful than the last, she knew she had to go on. There simply had to be more that she was unable to remember. Lelouch's actions were far too drastic and unexpected to make sense. He was a rational person, not one for making such random decisions, or at least so she thought. So, she knew she simply had to find out for sure. Luckily, she already had another target. Her father had not attended the funeral, which meant he had to be up to something incredibly devious. Undoubtedly, he already knew everything about what had happened. She did not dare confront him directly, but perhaps she could find something useful, wherever he was. That posed another problem, however: where exactly was he? Being the emperor of the largest empire in the world, he could literally be on the other side of the planet. She thought for a moment. What would arouse the emperor's interests the most, to the point where he would avoid attending his own daughter's funeral?

_...the ruins on Kamine Island!_

--- --- ---

Her footsteps echoed loudly off of the cave walls as she proceeded into the mysterious cave Schniezel had found on Kamine Island. It was deserted now, much to Euphemia's disappointment. She could not just give up, though. Getting there had not been easy, and she was determined to find anything that would lead her to her goals. She simply had to uncover those last bits of her absent memory; every moment she spent not knowing the truth was torture for her. She did not want to believe that her most beloved brother had ordered her to commit genocide, and had then murdered her in cold blood, so she began searching.

Getting there had been enough of an ordeal for her. After lurking around in the shadows to reach the other side of the Tokyo Settlement, she realized that there was no way she could cross the vast expanse of ocean between her and her goal. Reluctantly, she did the only thing she could. First, she pick pocketed somebody, praying for their eventual forgiveness even as she did so. Then she used their money to buy some accessories and create a disguise for herself. Lastly, she managed to use the remainder of the cash she had "borrowed" to charter a fishing vessel to take her to Kamine Island.

Naturally, she was unwilling to let all that effort to go to waste, so she began to scour the abandoned cave for anything that might be useful to her – even something as lowly as a discarded piece of debris. The cave was in fact littered with debris, but to her dismay, none of it was left by the people she was looking for. Instead, it appeared as though the cave had been through some kind of massive earthquake; the roof had begun to collapse, and large stone pieces of it covered the floor. She combed the entirety of the cave, but found nothing other than dislodged stones.

She sighed, growing weary of her fruitless search. The hours spent marching all around the Tokyo Settlement had begun to take their toll on her; her legs were on fire. In total, she must have easily covered more than fifteen miles on her feet alone, that day. She had definitely earned a rest. Finding a suitably large stone, she sat down, grimacing in discomfort as she did so. Finally having situated herself, she once again had an opportunity to simply contemplate everything that was happening. Though much to her chagrin, she knew she had to if she was ever to make sense of it all. Unfortunately, nothing came to her but more sadness and confusion.

Her lower back began to cramp up, so she resituated herself on her stone, now lying down. She stretched in a decidedly feline manner, and she was reminded of Arthur. The thought brought a smile to her face, but only temporarily, for there were other things of much greater consequence on her mind. Placing her hands on the rock wall behind her to steady herself, she closed her eyes and concentrated once more.

_Lelouch…if only I could be wherever you are right now, I'm sure you'd explain everything…_

She gasped unexpectedly as the rock wall behind her began emanating a brilliant red glow, and she instantly recognized the unmistakable sigil of geass etched into its face. Before she could react, she was taken away.

--- --- ---

Euphemia could not breathe or see anything as she was whisked away by whatever power she had inadvertently activated back in the ruinous cave on Kamine Island. It felt as though she were passing through a veil of water, though she was not at all wet. Having not expected such a strange occurrence, she had not taken the time to gather her breath before the journey began, and as such, she felt it would not be long before she suffocated. The journey she was on could very well kill her, and she did not even know where she was destined.

Already her lungs were bursting, screaming for air. Struggling to suppress the urge to inhale, she focused on her goals – on Lelouch – as well as where she might currently be traveling. Soon, however, it became obvious that such tactics were of no use. In what seemed like no time, her vision began to darken, and she began to panic. Out of desperation, she finally accepted her fate and surrendered to the death that undoubtedly awaited her. She opened her mouth to inhale…

…And nothing happened. She breathed normally. Apparently, the strange method of travel she was involved in had no impediment on one's breathing; she merely assumed that because of its watery qualities. By the time she realized this, however, that same inhale of life turned into a shocked squeal as she fell to the ground from three feet in the air. She had already reached her destination, apparently in mere seconds. But where exactly was she?

Before she could survey the area and answer that question, she heard voices in the distance. Mingling with the shadows once again, she moved towards them, taking in information about her surroundings as she went. It was instantly obvious that she was in some sort of elaborate palace or shrine. The roof was so immensely high that she could not even see where it ended. The room was so darkly lit that the roof simply faded into pitch black darkness. Tall pillars held up this roof at regular intervals, and not surprisingly, they were indescribably massive as well. Euphemia could easily lay herself horizontally behind one of them and still not be seen by anyone beyond. She made note of that, then kept moving. Before too long, she came to a dark, carpeted hallway lined with pillars. Though she still could not see much, she could tell that the voices were coming from the end of the hallway. So, she proceeded in that direction, using the pillars as cover. When she could clearly understand the voices, she stopped in her tracks – both to preserve her stealth, and out of pure shock. It was her father speaking.

"Lelouch, my prodigal son, we finally meet again."

_Lelouch!_

Excited by the mere sound of his name, she peered around the side of the pillar she was hiding behind. Once she could see, she discovered she was to the rear of the action. She could see her father standing and looking down upon two men who were on the ground. One was dressed as Zero, though missing his helmet – Lelouch! The other man was holding him, pinning him to the ground, and seemed quite familiar to Euphemia.

_Suzaku!_

She could not bear to watch the events unfold in front of her from so passive a position; she just had to see their faces. Moving carefully, she proceeded forward towards the end of the hallway. In the end, she did not move very far, for it became clear that if she moved much closer she would be in danger of revealing her position. As such, she was at a far more obscure angle, but she got her whish and could see their faces. Her eyes fell upon Suzaku's first, and only now did she realize how much she missed him. How long had it been since that wondrously joyous night they spent together; two young lovers deflowering each other in the government bureau? It seemed like an eternity, but it had been a mere forty eight hours since then. She remembered how happy she was; how he made her feel…She shook her head, trying to dismiss the thoughts. Though she would love to reminisce about such happiness, now was not the time. Besides, she realized with reddening cheeks, such thoughts would undoubtedly inspire a reaction from below her waist that would likely call for a change of clothes – certainly the last thing she needed right now. Returning her attention to the present moment, she now noticed that Suzaku's eyes were filled with a deep, almost tangible hatred – loathing, even. Judging from the position he was in, it had to be directed at Lelouch. Euphemia's eyes widened in realization.

_He's doing this for me! He's brought Lelouch to the Emperor because of what he did to me._

That explained why he would suddenly turn on such a close friend of his. Though it pained her to see such anger and betrayal, she at least took solace in the fact that Suzaku still remained so devoutly loyal to her even after her death. She shook her head once more, reminding herself of what such a train of thought would lead to. Realizing that she could not focus her attention on Suzaku without invoking a deep need for physical release within herself, she turned her attention to Lelouch instead. After all, he was the entire reason she had come.

She gazed sadly at his face, which was twisted with just as much – if not more – anger and loathing as Suzaku's. In truth, it scared her somewhat. Gone was the sweet, intelligent little boy she once knew, replaced instead by a murderous, demonic terrorist. She focused on his left eye in particular, where his geass shone forth with brilliance. _And that must be the reason he's changed so much…_she thought sadly. It was more than enough to bring tears to her eyes, for she realized that she was going to lose her beloved brother forever, even if the emperor chose not to kill him. However, she did not take her focus off of his left eye; off of his geass. Something in it seemed to be speaking to her, screaming at her that the truth was right in front of her. Her eyes widened in shock, as images began pouring back into her mind yet again.

_There WAS more!_

--- --- ---

"_No, you don't understand. When I order people to do something, they cannot resist me. For example, if I told you to kill all the Japanese, it wouldn't matter how you felt about it."_

_Euphemia gasped, the command having hit her subconscious and begun wreaking its malicious intent upon her. She was stunned in disbelief, absolutely shocked that such words could escape her brother's mouth, and that she was now on her way to doing exactly what he had commanded. It brought her to tears._

"_No…please! No, I don't want to kill them! Please!"_

Euphemia recalled this all too well, and it was not any less depressing the second time around. She ducked back behind the pillar and struggled to muffle herself, praying that her tormented whimpers of sadness would not give her away.

"_Please don't make me kill them!" She cried again, struggling futilely against the malicious command now buried deep within the confines of her subconscious mind. But then, something strange happened. _

"_What…?" said Lelouch, in an equally, if not more surprised tone than hers._

_She barely heard him, however, having now lost the battle raging in her own mind._

"_You're right…I have to kill all the Japanese…" She said monotonously, finally submitting to the command._

Euphie cringed as she heard the sound of her own voice, hypnotized, uttering such horrible words. However, as the memory continued to play out in her head, she was more interested in Lelouch's reactions than ever.

"_No, I didn't mean to – " his eyes widened, finally comprehending that he had lost control over his power._

_Frantically, with sheer terror in his eyes, he dropped to her level, struggling to create eye contact with his now hypnotized sister._

"_FORGET THE ORDER I JUST GAVE YOU!" he screamed, terrified. It was of no use, she was now too absorbed with carrying out his orders to pay any attention to him. Eyeing his needle gun, lying discarded on the ground, she scooped it up and ran towards the exit._

"_NO! WAIT!"_

"_EUPHIE! STOP!"_

--- --- ---

Euphemia was utterly stunned. She finally had the whole story. She had traversed through the entirety of the Tokyo Settlement, and probably crossed a few alternate dimensions, and now she finally had the truth.

_It was an accident the whole time? He never meant to…Oh Lelouch!_

Suddenly filled with pity, she turned her attention back to the events unfolding in front of her, certain that her father would order his execution. It seemed she had learned the truth a bit too late. Peering out from behind her hiding spot once more, she looked upon Lelouch's face with tears in her eyes as her father continued to address the two in front of her.

"Kururugi, why have you brought this traitor before me? What do you seek as compensation?"

"I seek to become a Knight of the Round; one of the most powerful knights in all of Brittania."

Lelouch seemed appalled by this answer. "You'd sell out your own friends just for mere rank and title?" he spat with hatred.

Suzaku responded by shoving his face into the ground. "Yes."

Euphie was shocked by his answer. Her death must truly have caused a dramatic change within him. She had to help him somehow; show him that she was alright before he fell into any greater mental depravity. But alas, there was nothing she could do for the moment other than continue watching everything unfold in front of her.

The emperor simply laughed in amusement at this spectacle. "Very well, I like the answer you just gave him. You are now a Knight of the Round."

"For your first act as a Knight of the Round, I order you to cover up Zero's left eye."

"Yes, your majesty," he replied monotonously as he placed his hand over his friend's eye. The tone of his voice deeply disturbed Euphie. What had happened to the sweet, emphatic, opinionated Suzaku she once knew? Had his rage now turned him into a mere servant?

She could not see her father from where she was standing, but Lelouch's reaction told her all too clearly exactly what he was doing.

"No! Geass!"

"Lelouch, I'm going to rewrite your memories. I'll erase everything in your mind about Zero, everything about having been in the royal family, and everything about Nunnally." Not surprisingly, Lelouch seemed monstrously enraged by this revelation.

"NO! You can't! First you took mother away, and now you're taking Nunnally from me?!"

"Charles Zi Brittania implants into you false memories of a false life…"

"He's doing it AGAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIN!"

Lelouch's screams faded as he passed out from the aftereffects of the emperor's geass. Euphemia did not remain to witness the aftermath of what had just transpired. She ran away as quickly as she could, praying she did not make any sound as she did so. She was still greatly in shock, amazed that such monstrosity and evil could lie beneath the surface of the Brittanian royal family. She had been a part of it all her life and never was she at all aware of such corruption! She recalled the Japanese men that had kidnapped her just before she had met BB for the first time. Their words seemed uncannily accurate now.

After several minutes of running, she found herself next to a tall stone slab, identical to the one she used to get where she was from Kamine Island. Good, at least she had a way out. Before she departed though, she decided it was best to sort things out in her head and come up with a plan of action. After all, she now understood everything. She knew the full story of what had happened on the day of her death. More importantly though, she now knew everything behind Lelouch's actions. She now understood his motivations for becoming Zero. She recalled words he had once spoken to her under the guise of Zero:

"_There's a certain emperor who mustn't be allowed to live."_

Euphemia understood his hatred now. Apparently, Marianne's death was due in large part to something the emperor had done, or perhaps neglected to do. That angered even Euphie, for she had been quite fond of Marianne during her lifetime. To think that the emperor would simply allow her to be killed was nothing short of appalling. She now sympathized with Lelouch. He had been forced to deal with such knowledge and such rage as a mere child, and then deal with the ridicule it earned him. His banishment from Britannia likely did little to soothe him, nor did Nunnally's injuries as a result of the assasination. And now, after all his efforts to preserve his and Nunnally's wellbeing, the emperor had erased Nunnally's existence from his mind. It was almost too inhuman to believe.

It was clear to Euphemia what she now had to do. There was only one obvious enemy, and that was the emperor. She raised her hand to place it against the stone slab and closed her eyes as it whisked her away, back to the Tokyo Settlement. If the Brittanians would reject her – no, that wasn't the case, she told herself. She was now rejecting the Brittanians. And if that was the case, then that left only one other group she could pledge herself to. She rematerialized in the cave on Kamine Island.

"The Black Knights."


	6. Defection

**My most PROFOUND apologies, for I've broken my traditional chapter-a-month pace with this story by almost a factor of 3, and I'm truly disgusted with myself. A number of factors -- including my complete forgetting that I had started this installment in FEBRUARY and not realizing it until nearly April -- contributed to this, and honestly I haven't as much time to devote to this as I would have liked. Plus, this chapter was kind of hard for me to write, even though I had a pretty clear idea of what direction I wanted to take. As such, quality will probably be severely lacking in this chapter, at least compared to previous ones, so please disregard any inconsistencies or annoying typos/spelling fails/grammar fails/epic fails you might find. That being said, I do plan to hopefully go back and rewrite this chapter at some point, and since summer's coming up, that's a promise I can keep. Anyway, I'll shut up now so you can finally read this eagerly-awaited installment. Enjoy...**

* * *

"_This is not discrimination! But rather, it's differentiation! We gave the Elevens the chance for independence they wanted, and they have proven that they cannot be trusted."_

Lelouch glared with solemn anger at the massive video screen on the face of the building to the right of them. Outwardly, he appeared indifferent as the new viceroy – he called himself Colaris – commanded the firing squad to commence with the execution. Internally, however, he was seething. Though he did not exactly see the Japanese as being equal to the Britannians – their repeated losses, first in the war eight years ago and now with Zero and the Black Knights, were a testament to that, he reminded himself – he most certainly did not approve of the treatment they received. It was nothing short of barbaric, and he was disgusted by the sheer hypocrisy of the Britannians, claiming that it was the "Elevens" who were the barbarians.

The screen began to fade from view, for the traffic signal had changed, and they had begun to move again. The incessant stream of wind buffeting his face was the only thing cooling his rage. Maintaining his look of solemn indifference, he glanced sidelong at his younger brother, driving the motorcycle. Rolo had insisted that he come along with Lelouch that day. Though he did not understand exactly why Rolo had shown such interest in constantly remaining by his side, he did not question it too much. After all, Rolo was his little brother. Perhaps it was simply natural.

"You wanted to stop at the mall first, right big brother?" he called out now, over the whine of the bike's engine.

"Yes, I wanted to pick up something for Shirley." Strangely, Rolo's eyes seemed to narrow acrimoniously at the sound of Shirley's name. Was that jealousy that Lelouch detected in his eyes? That made even less sense, why would Rolo become seemingly enraged at the mere sound of Shirley's name? Lelouch paid no mind to this either, though, for he simply assumed that his beloved little brother was simply in a bad mood. He turned the page of his book.

What they were doing was definitely illegal; minors were not allowed to even be in the casino at Tokyo Tower, much less gamble in it. That was not what bothered Lelouch, however. Instead, what bothered him was the realization that he was doing all this out of sheer boredom, and nothing more. In truth, for the last year or so, there seemed to be something missing from his life; some nagging absence of time. He passed it off as mere anxiety over his imminent entry into the adult world, once he graduated from Ashford at the end of that year. Shaking himself from his thoughts, he turned the page of the book he was reading and waited patiently for them to arrive at their destination.

* * *

"Yes, the target has been sighted. We're in position now, and the signal should be coming in just a few more moments. Right. Stay vigilant. Long live Japan!"

Urabe closed the open communication line to the squad leader he had just been conversing with, and leaned back in the pilot seat of his Knightmare. He barely had time to wipe a few anxious beads of sweat from his brow before another channel opened on his communications display. He saw who it was, and immediately opened a connection.

"Kallen. What's the situation on your end?"

"I'm ready. The scouts have said that the target is only a few minutes away from my position."

"That's good to hear. Make sure you can get him away from the commotion without too many people noticing."

"Of course; it shouldn't be too hard. People will be scattering everywhere anyway, we won't look too suspicious."

"Good." He paused for a moment, something slightly troubling on his mind.

"And Kallen…" he added reluctantly, a little unsure of himself.

"…yeah?" she responded, sensing the tension in his tone.

"Are you sure we can trust this collaborator that CC is relying on so heavily?"

She sighed, understanding what her commanding officer was thinking. "Look, I'm reluctant to trust CC as well, but she was closer to Zero than any of us, and knew more about him too. If she says this contact of hers can bring him back…well, she's the only one who would know how to do it," she finished, stammering.

Urabe sighed nervously. "I suppose your right, Kallen. It's almost time, you'd better get into position. Remember, if you can't secure the target, then we won't be able to retrieve Zero."

"Right!"

"LONG LIVE JAPAN!" they shouted in unison.

* * *

Shirley sighed as she strolled through the deserted halls of Ashford Academy, her mood blatantly evident from her pouting face, alone. Lately, it seemed her schedule had been running her into the ground. Academics had been oppressive enough over the last few months, with the myriad of tests and college applications she had to prepare for. If that was not bad enough, her extracurricular activities were also beginning to eat up quite a bit of her schedule; she had successfully qualified to the regional championships for both diving and swimming, and it seemed she was training for both almost nonstop. Luckily, classes had been cancelled for the day, due to increased terrorist activity in the preceding weeks. Yes, it seemed Shirley finally had a day off to simply relax and regenerate. But of course, on the one day when she actually had time to enjoy hanging out with her friends, no one else did. Literally everyone else was doing other things, as evidenced by the completely deserted halls at Ashford. Suzau had military duties, Rivalz had dragged Milly away on a student council-related errand – undoubtedly something he would attempt to transform into a date – and even Nina was locked away in her room, working on some sort of scientific thesis that Shirley would not be able to even begin to understand. And then of course, there was Lelouch, who had slipped away in the early hours of the morning with his brother Rolo, likely to go on yet another of his gambling escapades. How typical of him, running off like that, taking his handsome face and charming, raven-like hair with him…

_Lulu…_

Her eyes widened suddenly and her cheeks reddened profusely as she shook her head clear, realizing that she had just halted in her tracks for several minutes, thinking about Lelouch. God! How childish could she be? She was worse than a horny schoolgirl! Her cheeks reddened yet again, and she stamped her foot in embarrassed anger, realizing that she had just described herself all too perfectly.

It occurred to her then that she was not bothered by the fact that all her friends were away, she was bothered by the fact that Lelouch was away. It was no use denying it anymore; she craved his company, for it was often the one aspect of her day that made her hectic schedule survivable. Without that aspect, even her one day off seemed unbearable. Giving in to her undeniable need for his company, she finally relented.

_Maybe they'll stop at the mall for some lunch. I could get there in time and meet up with him!_

Having made her decision, she abruptly turned around and began giddily trotting down the hall in the direction she had come, making her way towards the campus entrance. Her heart fluttered with every bound she took, and her skirt tantalizingly licked the upper edge of her thighs, threatening to reveal a peek at the wonders that lay beneath. She didn't care; no one was around, and besides, she was far too preoccupied focusing on the goal at hand, for every step she took brought her closer to her darling Lulu. She could not deceive herself anymore, she needed him, and so she rushed onward, knowing in her heart that she would know where to find him. She reached the doors and threw them open, immersing herself in the dazzling sunlight beyond which somehow assured her that she would be successful. Eagerly, she rushed onward.

* * *

Lelouch squeezed his way through a cluster of oncoming traffic, barely able to make any forward progress through the abnormally crowded mall. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure his brother was keeping up with him; he knew it would be easy to get separated in a crowd like this. Strangely enough, his brother seemed to be having almost no trouble negotiating his way through the dense crowd, and was able to stay quite close to Lelouch.

_Damn, why did they have to design this place to be so linear? The whole building's nothing but one, giant human highway!_

Eventually, the crowd thinned enough that they were able to walk side by side and hold a proper conversation.

"What a zoo. You really didn't have to come in here with me. Dress shopping isn't exactly your forte, and you could've spared yourself some boredom," Lelouch said, grunting as he dodged more oncoming traffic.

"It's ok, big brother, I don't care. We're family, I'd follow you anywhere."

Lelouch found his younger brother's words odd and a bit clingy, but he paid them no heed, as they had arrived at the women's apparel store, which they had been battling to get to. Merely entering the store proved to be a battle in and of itself, for the entrance was congested beyond belief. Eventually, however, the brothers managed to shove themselves through. Thankfully, things cleared up somewhat once they reached the interior. Not one to rush things, Lelouch took his time deciding what to buy for Shirley, and made his way down several aisles, perusing a number of different possibilities. He finally decided on a light yellow sundress, which he thought would compliment her hair quite nicely. He had it wrapped in a nice gift bag, paid the clerk, and they finally shoved their way back out of the store, practically exhausted with their efforts.

They made their way to the end of the seemingly endless, giant hallway that comprised the entirety of the mall. There, they found a bench where they could steal some much-needed rest for their legs. Knowing that the bathrooms were also located at the end of the building, Lelouch decided to take advantage of the opportunity and freshen up before they left for the casino.

"Wait right here, I'll be back shortly."

Upon making his way into the restroom, which looked and smelled of something not from this world, he was pleased to discover that, unlike the rest of the bustling mall, it was deserted. Exhaling deeply, he basked in the relaxing solitude for a moment before making his way over to the sink. He splashed his face with cool water, wiping away the perspiration that had already begun to form. The time for frivolity had ended. Now, it was time to get serious. He was about to partake in illegal gambling; he would need to be as prepared as he could, lest the adult world consume him alive.

* * *

"_The target has isolated himself. Get into position by your designated zones and load the gas! Fire on my mark…"_

Kallen strapped on her gas mask and motioned for her team to advance forward with the gas canisters – no easy task, seeing as they were all crammed inside the somewhat less than spacious ventilation shafts of the mall. She watched them maneuver the large, elaborate-looking silver canister with the eyes of a hawk; they had invested so much to acquire the gas, and there was no way she was going to have it wasted by preventable human error. In truth, though, this caution was unnecessary, for the canisters were designed well enough to survive a fall from five stories without bursting.

However, they had indeed invested a horrendous amount of effort to acquire the canisters in question – over a year of planning, and several lives lost, to be precise. Finding the mysterious gas alone had been an ordeal enough, since it wasn't technically supposed to exist. This gas had only one application: it was used as a last line of defense in every royal Brittanian palace around the world. In the event that a royal palace was attacked, and all its defenses completely overwhelmed, the gas would be pumped in through ventilation systems. The gas particles would bond with the alveoli of anyone who inhaled them and begin releasing a chemical compound that would knock out even the largest of brutes quite thoroughly and decisively. However, all members of the royal family were given a special vaccine at birth, which made them immune to the effects of the gas. Thus, should any large scale attack overwhelm any palace defenses, the gas could be easily deployed, knocking out the assailants, and giving any royal family members present enough time to escape and wait for the military to apprehend the aggressors.

This, of course, was all highly classified, and the gas was manufactured and transported under highly discreet conditions, which made tracking it incredibly difficult. Once the tattered remnants of the Black Knights had finally discovered the existence of the gas, they began tracking one particular shipment and began plotting ways to steal it. Ultimately, they settled on a risky and extremely costly mid-air attack on its aerial transports and their military escorts. The attack had been incredibly devastating − their numbers now reduced to a mere handful – but they had successfully made off with enough of the gas for their purposes. Since that meant they finally might be able to recover their great and emphatic leader, Zero, then the price was well worth the payoff. Even now, Kallen struggled to quell her anxiety, the events of the Black Rebellion replaying madly in her head. Though she still felt betrayed, knowing that Lelouch was Zero, she knew that he was now their only hope, so she swallowed her pride and followed orders. Having successfully maneuvered the volatile cylinder into place over an open vent without any significant mishaps, Kallen returned her attention to the short range radio clutched tightly in her hand.

"_MARK!"_

Kallen signaled her team with a short staccato of hand gestures, and they feverishly began turning a large valve protruding from the front of the canister. A low hissing sound indicated to them that they had successfully released the gas. Kallen laid flat on the ground and peered through the tiny slits of the vent. The gas must have been incredibly dense, for it seemed to appear almost as a liquid as it cascaded down through the vent. From her perspective, she could see other plumes of gas falling from similar vents spaced throughout the building. She carefully counted them all, ensuring that each team had successfully performed their duties. They had.

The gas lived up to its potent reputation. In no time, a loud thump was heard as thousands of hustling and bustling people suddenly stopped in their tracks and fell to the floor, unconscious. There was not even enough time for any of them to emit so much as a gasp of shock. Kallen retracted from her observatory position, waiting intently for the order to proceed with the next phase of the operation.

"_Clear! Everyone move out and begin taking the bodies to your designated zones. Make sure your individual targets are taken to the transports!"_

Motioning for her team to remove the empty canister, Kallen bashed her foot against the flimsy vent until it gave way and fell to the floor. Sidearm in hand, she dropped through the open hole and landed on the floor beneath with a somewhat feline grace. Glancing back and forth to ensure that no one remained conscious enough to disrupt their operation, she began to seek out her target – a young, brown-haired teenage boy: Rolo Lamperouge. Over the last several days, their scouts and surveillance systems had been constantly monitoring Lelouch, so they could come up with the best plan of action to retrieve him. At every waking moment, this young boy had been there, following him and clinging to him like a love-deprived puppy. They suspected that he was a plant working for the Brittanians. In that case, the Black Knights had something special in store for him. Spotting him within seconds, Kallen moved to extract him and then carry out the rest of her duties.

* * *

Sighing wearily, Lelouch shut off the cold tap with a loud squeak and dried his face with a nearby paper towel. He stared indifferently at his reflection in the mirror for several seconds before retrieving Shirley's bagged gift, lying at his feet, and departing from the restroom. Rubbing the weariness from his eyes as he reemerged in the mall, it took him a moment to realize that something was amiss. For instance, what had minutes earlier been the cacophony of hundreds of thousands of people rushing back and forth had suddenly transformed into deathly silence. Frowning, he slowly removed his hand from his eyes and was shocked to discover that something was indeed very much awry. It was deathly silent for a reason – the mall now closely resembled a graveyard. Every last soul in the mall had completely disappeared, replaced instead by a dense white fog that one would expect to find in a swamp. The lights had failed as well, giving the entire mall an overall lifeless, haunted atmosphere. As Lelouch beheld this sudden and drastic change with mouth agape in shock, something occurred to him: his little brother was among those who had disappeared.

"ROLO!" he called out frantically, but to no avail. Feverishly, he whipped out his cell phone and flipped it open, only to realize that he had no reception inside the mall.

Quickly, he grew paranoid and shivered uncontrollably, unable to shake the feeling that something sinister was lurking in the dense fog, enshrouded with darkness. He spun around wildly, jumping at every audible echo. Finally, he stopped in his tracks, his eyes suddenly able to make out an eerie and sinister silhouette lurking in the distance, on the other side of the mall. He was completely petrified, though whether from fear or curiosity, he could not tell. The shadow advanced towards him slowly, and judging by the light, echoing sound of its footsteps, it appeared to move quite daintily, as one would expect of a female. This hypothesis was confirmed as the shadow moved ever closer and began to take shape. It was far shorter than it had originally appeared – certainly much shorter than Lelouch himself – and possessed curves of a voluptuousness which certainly indicated that the mysterious figure was a young woman. From this distance, even though he could not yet make out any facial features or distinguishing qualities, she actually looked quite beautiful; alluring, even. As this strange young woman grew closer and closer, Lelouch felt himself relax slightly, and almost began moving towards her, for so great was his curiosity. He remained rooted to the spot only by sheer instinct − a mall full of people had just disappeared literally in a cloud of smoke, so it was unlikely that this strange woman had benevolent intentions. Still, he had to admit that there certainly was some sort of strangely attractive and alluring aura about this strange woman. The figure moved ever closer to him…

Suddenly, as more and more of the mysterious young woman came into view, his eyes widened in shock and he paled instantaneously, as though he had just seen a ghost. All he knew was that upon seeing a ripple of long, pink hair, something clicked in the back of his mind, and he was now running away in sheer terror. Already, he was breaking into a cold sweat, and he looked over his shoulder in fearful paranoia, terrified that the strange pink-haired girl might be following him. He had covered enough ground already that she had disappeared in the dense cloud of fog behind him, but that offered little consolation. She could have been lurking almost anywhere in the thick, vaporous cloud. He sped up; the bag with Shirley's gift remained in his hand only by sheer force of will. Just as he neared the opposite end of the mall, he turned his head forward again and stopped in his tracks – the girl was standing there waiting for him. She was even closer now, and he could clearly make out the features of her face, regarding him with a stern glare. He saw now that she was indeed as beautiful as he had assumed earlier, but he had no time to focus on that, for he was too shocked that she could have moved so quickly.

_Impossible…she was just…_

Quickly, he doubled back and darted away in the same direction he had come. Now running frantically, he was willing to try anything to get away from this mysterious woman. And yet, he still knew not why his instincts were compelling him to fear her so, but recognition continued to click in the back of his mind as he frantically ran; more and more pieces of the puzzle fell into place. It was something he had done…he now remembered holding a gun to this girl. He had shot her. But who was she, and why would he attempt to murder someone of such apparent harmlessness? Something in the back of his head continued to scream at him to get away, so he feverishly took as many winding turns as he could, hoping to lose his pursuer. Ducking down another corner, he was dismayed to find her standing in front of him yet again, calmer and more stoic than ever. Terrified and frustrated, Lelouch took off yet again.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!"

Faster and faster he sprinted, trying valiantly to escape the pink-haired girl, all the while clutching his temples as more and more images began to resurface. What the hell was going on? Everything was so…supernatural…surely, he had to have been dreaming. His efforts were useless, in the end. No matter how many alleys and hallways he ducked down, no matter how many blind turns he took, she was always waiting right in front of him wherever he stopped. Finally, he rushed down yet another corridor, only to skid to a halt and find himself literally face to face with his pursuer. This time she was so close that he could even detect her sweet fragrance, and it was clear that escape was no longer an option for him, even if he had any energy remaining. It seemed all he could do was simply submit to whatever punishment or torture this girl had planned for him – which, in the end, turned out to be much different than what he had expected. Staring him deep in the eyes with something much less than the contempt he expected, she merely uttered his name, her voice carrying a hint of unexpected gratitude.

"Lelouch…"

Instantly, the bag in Lelouch's hand fell to the floor, forgotten. His eyes widened in realization and his hands clutched his temples, where a seething pain had set in suddenly. He felt as though a great seal had been broken, for a great torrent of mental images now rushed forth unobstructed, worsening the pain in his head. He dropped to his knees, suddenly beginning to remember every last detail, and screamed as an entire year's worth of horrors re-entered his mind in the span of a few seconds. Zero had returned.

* * *

Kallen suddenly found herself on the ground, outside the mall. She was alone. Frantically, she searched left and right for her target, but he was nowhere to be found. He had escaped.

"No! Damnit!"

Naturally, Urabe chose that moment to check in on her, and her radio – lying on the ground next to her – crackled to life.

"_Kallen. Status report."_

Growling with annoyance, she scooped up the radio and began running towards her assigned rendezvous point.

"I lost my target. He must have regained consciousness and knocked me out."

"_What?! Damnit! In that case, we'd better move forward with the next phase. All the other targets have been loaded into the trucks already, and CC's collaborator has already made contact with Zero. Deploy the Knightmares immediately."_

"Already on my way," she replied hastily before closing the channel. Unfortunately, it was not long before the ever more annoying radio began whining at her yet again.

"Gah! What now?!"

"_Ma'am, a schoolgirl has breached the perimeter!" Should we engage?"_

Kallen almost stopped in her tracks, she was so surprised. "What? No! Just let her go, I'll take care of it."

She growled again as she closed the channel. This mission was becoming more and more FUBAR with every passing second. She prayed with all her might that CC's contact was reliable.

* * *

Euphemia looked on as Lelouch remained prostrated on his hands and knees. His pain-induced convulsions had finally ceased, for which Euphemia was grateful, but he still remained silent, obviously reconciling himself with his current situation. When he finally did speak, his voice was faint, almost deathly so.

"Well then, are you going to do it or not?"

She furrowed her brow, perplexed. "Do what?" she murmured in reply.

"You're obviously here to kill me. So please, just get it over with. I won't hold it against you…"

She was appalled by his words, shocked that he would even consider her doing such a thing. Then again, she realized, it seemed that she had already done far worse in the past – and by his vicious command. Her demeanor darkened, but her resolve wavered none. She had a job to do, and she was not giving up on him that easily. She kneeled down to his level, but she still could not see his face; his eyes were glued to the floor.

"No, Lelouch, I would never do something like that. I'm here to bring you back to where you belong – back to the Black Knights." She thought, briefly, that she heard the faint sound of Lelouch gasping in surprise. "I know all about what father's done to you and Nunnally; I know what you…did to me was an accident."

"…I…I don't deserve your forgiveness…please, stop pitying me."

"Lelouch, you're being crazy…I –" She was interrupted as his hand suddenly reached up to grasp her arm.

"Euphie…"

Finally, he lifted his head, and she was shocked to see painful tears streaming unrestrained down his face. Suddenly, he embraced her fiercely, burying his face in her shoulder. She was surprised at first, but then smiled wryly, and wrapped her arms around him as his sobs wracked his body.

"Lelouch…"

* * *

Shirley's panting breath was easily audible as she sprinted around a corner on the external periphery of the mall. Upon her arrival, she was dismayed to discover that terrorists had apparently captured the mall and were holding its occupants hostage. It had taken all her strength to outrun the sentries that had found her and raised the alarm, and she kept running even after they had ceased to pursue her, she was so afraid. Despite this, she was unwilling to simply leave the premises. She had come here on a mission – she was determined to show Lelouch her resolve, and she could not accomplish that by running away at the first sign of danger. If she truly cared for him as much as she was trying to prove, then danger – even fear – should hold no weight in her mind.

Deciding that she would rather not be soaked with sweat when she ultimately made this confession, Shirley finally slowed to a stop, and with impeccable timing. Had she continued her frantic sprint, she would have run headlong into a suddenly opened emergency exit door. She had difficulty avoiding the sudden obstacle as it was. To make matters even more bizarre, she was shocked to find the very person she was searching for emerge from the doorway. It was Lelouch, there in the flesh – one hand on the door's handle, the other dangling some sort of shopping bag. They merely stared each other down for a few seconds, eyes round with unexpected surprise. Shirley's heart fluttered, joyously taking in every detail of the moment, but it was not long before the two finally broke free of the shocked paralysis that gripped them.

"Aah! Lulu!" She shrieked in surprise.

Judging from his reaction, Lelouch appeared equally if not more surprised, as would be expected in such an odd scenario. Oddly enough, it seemed as though Lelouch had something to hide, for upon sight of Shirley he frantically closed the door behind him, and seemed to shove something, or someone, behind. She focused on him with an air of cautious suspicion, beginning to notice the redness in his eyes. Had he been crying? And what was he hiding from her? He stared sheepishly at her, perhaps hoping that she had not noticed, but she was not as foolish as she appeared. However, the sheer awkwardness of the situation compelled her to maintain some level of nonchalance.

"Umm….Lulu? Are you hiding something?"

"Well…I, uh…." He began in equally awkward reply, before suddenly glancing down and remembering the existence of the bag in his hand.

"Oh, right. I guess so…I…got you something," he said, sheepishly extending the bag toward her.

Though she did not buy his hastily constructed excuse, she was at least temporarily distracted. He had gone through the trouble of buying her something, seemingly out of the blue and for no reason. Was it possible that he felt the same way about her as she did about him? Could she even hope for such to be true? Seeing the way she gazed upon his impromptu, he dared to allow himself a temporary mental sigh of relief, praying that she had bought into his hastily constructed distraction. She stared wide-eyed at the yellow sundress folded neatly in the gift bag for several moments, contemplating all sorts of implications…

"Lulu…it's…I – "

…until the rasping crackle of a short range radio broke the silence between the two, much to Lelouch's dismay.

"_Zero! We're ready, what are our orders?"_

Noticeably irritated by the sudden disturbance, as well as Shirley's revived suspicion, Lelouch reached into his back pocket and closed the channel, unfortunately with no degree of inconspicuousness whatsoever. Surely, there was no explaining his way out now, despite his astounding talent for thinking on his feet. Shirley was positive he was up to something now. It was all beginning to make sense – the strange exit, the way he looked as though he was trying to hide something – she was just unable to put it all together. Still, that wasn't going to impede her.

"Umm…Lulu? What is that…" she stated, more than asked. Grimly, he pulled the short range radio out of his back pocket and held it in his hand, for her to see.

"I…oh, one of the terrorists dropped this. I figured it would be useful if the police or the military showed up…" he offered meekly. He might have barely escaped peril with that explanation, had Kallen's stern voice not suddenly boomed outward from the radio.

"_Lelouch…everyone's in position. What's the hold up?"_

The look of realization that came over Shirley's face was enough to paralyze Lelouch. He was caught in his tracks, and there was certainly no backing out now. His only remaining option was to use his geass on Shirley, and having done so the previous year, even that path was no longer available to him. Besides, even if he had the ability, he realized, he doubted that he possessed the will power to do it a second time; he still grieved for using such cruel power against her in the first place. Meanwhile, Shirley was similarly paralyzed by her own revelation, though not quite in the nature that Lelouch would have expected. She stood where she was, staring wide-eyed at him, saying nothing. However, the silence of her voice belied the cacophony in her head.

"_Could he…could he be Zero? Is it even possible? It would explain so much...why he behaves so oddly at times, like now." _Were it possible, her eyes widened even more, in sudden realization of something else. _"That means he's just like me! All those times he's randomly spaced out or fallen asleep in class, or suddenly seemed manic depressive for no apparent reason; it's because he's been hiding something for all this time! Just like how I've hidden my grief from everyone this past year...and how I've hidden my feelings for him."_

She lowered he gaze to the ground, shielding from his vision the few tears that managed to escape her eyes. However, she was filled with a new resolve, now more determined than ever to seize her darling Lulu for herself, having found this new, deep compatibility with him. It was agonizingly difficult, given the circumstances, but she would never forgive herself if she let this opportunity slip by – the opportunity for them to console each other's tattered hearts; to become each other's confidant; to become…lovers…

"…Lulu…" she said almost imperceptibly, refusing to lift her gaze yet. Unable to respond, or more likely afraid to, Lelouch remained adhered to the spot. "I think…I think I understand you a bit more now, the same way I understand myself."

Lelouch remained where he was, perplexed and unable to determine where she was going, but still chose not to speak.

"We've both hidden so much from each other; from the world. It's only become clear to me now just how painful that is for both of us. So…" she said, finally bringing her gaze to meet his. "…so why don't we just stop hiding so much from each other! It's silly to keep inflicting so much pain on ourselves when we clearly have each other to confide in. That's why…" she said, tears beginning to form once more, "That's why I want to join you! I want to be with you! Lulu…I…I love you!"

Unwilling to wait any longer, she sprinted forward and collapsed onto his chest. Only his shock-induced paralysis kept the two standing as she clung to the front of his shirt and wept softly. They remained in that position for several minutes, time seeming to slow for the troubled pair, and all the while Lelouch failed to respond, seemingly indifferent. Unexpectedly, however, he eventually wrapped his arms around Shirley's shaking torso, eliciting a surprised gasp from her in return.

"I think I'd like that," he whispered softly into her ear.

Perhaps it was the severe mental and emotional trauma he had been forced to endure that day, but for some reason he found himself unable and unwilling to deny her. Under any other circumstances, he would have done whatever he had to in order to convince her to leave. He would have told her that he hated her, that they could never be, that he could never allow anyone close to him; anything, as long as it would have convinced her to stay away. But today was different, and Shirley's words had convinced him quite thoroughly. He had endured so much pain in his lifetime, it made no sense to compound upon it by denying himself the few pleasures he had available to him. It was simply no longer possible for him to deny just how much he needed Shirley, and if she was willing to expose herself to the risks inherent with joining him, then so be it. That just made it easier for him to justify his indulgence in her as a necessary expense of war. His mind was already made up. Bringing the radio to his lips, he spoke once more with confidence.

"Q-1, commence exit strategy!"

"_RIGHT!"_ came the emphatic, obedient response.

Returning his attention to Shirley, he tightened his embrace and stroked her hair, allowing her to wipe away her remaining joyful tears. "I'm sorry I had to conceal all this from you Shirley, but that doesn't matter now," he said, pulling away slightly to stare deeply into her bewildered eyes. "Come," he said smiling, "our ride is waiting for us, and we have much to discuss."

"Okay," she responded, beaming, and the two delinquents walked away, arm in arm. The world was their playground, and they were free to destroy it and rebuild it anew, however they wished…

* * *

**So yah, I decided to be naughty and inject a bit of Shirlulu into a SuzaEuphie fic =P. More of that to come ;]. In other news, pay close attention to my profile page, for there will be massive updates there coming shortly. As always, kindly review/favorite/alert, etc. I hope I've managed to continue to captivate all of your interests with this mediocre addition. On a side note, it's just occurred to me that there's apparently been a spacing issue with all of the chapters of this story, and a number of my paragraph breaks apparently do not exist any more. I will attend to this at the next opportunity. Stay tuned, all, and I'll see you next time!**


	7. Clash

"Lulu…can I come in?" came Shirley's tender, concerned call, muffled through the secure door leading to Lelouch's private quarters aboard the Ikaruga. Doubtless, she had traveled there to console him – give him counsel as she had already done so many times in the few short, fleeting months since she had decided to follow Lelouch. It was something she was strangely adept at – a skill born perhaps out of the immense love she obviously harbored for him.

Lounging morose and lifeless as he was on one of the large couches that decorated the anteroom of his private quarters, Lelouch answered her only with silence, contenting himself merely to stare somberly at his reflection in the mask on the table before him. He simply waited for the inevitable pneumatic hiss of the door behind him that would signal her entry.

Truth be told, he felt somewhat guilty allowing her to console him so often − allowing her to become so involved. It wasn't that he did not appreciate her efforts to comfort him – on the contrary, he found himself quite reliant on her concern for his mental and emotional wellbeing. But, therein lay the problem. He was beginning to grow too reliant on her, allowing her to shoulder too much of the burden which by all rights should have been his and his alone to bear. It was, after all, the fate he had tried to spare her from since the beginning – it was the entire reason he had, begrudgingly, used his Geass on her, forcing her to forget everything she loved about him. Nearly every part of him knew that he rightly should have sent her away. He should have lied to her, told her he hated her, done anything to force her away. And yet, some portion of his mind – either selfish for being so unwilling to let her go, or sane for allowing himself the only comfort available to him – prevented him from doing so. Briefly, he thought of asking CC for advice on the matter, but scowling, decided against it, knowing that she would most likely be a source of mockery rather than wisdom on the matter. "Lulu," she said again with some force this time, color rising in her cheeks when he finally shook himself out of his thoughts to regard her with a decidedly less than vibrant gaze. She was already standing in front of him, and had apparently been calling his name multiple times over. So deep in thought, he had completely ignored her.

Embarrassed by this realization, he averted his lifeless gaze downward. "I'm sorry…" She sat down next to him, clearly aware that something was wrong and prepared to do something about it. He took note of her warm proximity distantly, but elatedly nonetheless. He truly did value her presence, finding himself almost addicted to her comforting warmth, whether he wanted to admit that to himself or not.

She wrapped an arm around his shoulders, almost startling him out of his thoughts again. His eyes briefly met hers once more, only to return to his reflection in Zero's mask once more – this time to hide, futilely, the rising blush in his cheeks. "Talk to me Lulu." Beginning to succumb to her efforts – or rather, his own desire, since she had yet affected so little effort thus far – he finally dignified her with the attention she deserved, focusing his gaze on her concerned, penetrating emerald pupils. For once, he decided to be brutally honest with her; she had always displayed for him the unfettered, uncensored emotions of her heart, so the least he could do was to return the sentiment in kind. "I shouldn't…" he began, continuing even as he saw the unvoiced question form in her concerned eyes, "I shouldn't burden you with all this knowledge...of all my sins and shortcomings. They've caused me so much pain…I don't wish to put anyone else through that kind of suffering."

He frowned, dropping his gaze again once he realized the hypocritical nature of his words. He didn't want to make people suffer? That was the best argument he could come up with? He was Zero, bane of the Britannians, the one who had affected more slaughter and suffering than any nation, let alone any single man, in the last several decades. Least of all those whom he had caused suffering for was Shirley herself, having killed her father and rejected her love over the course of the past two years. And yet, she continued to stay by his side, comforting him no matter what the affliction. No, that excuse would do no good for him in her mind. Cheeks reddening slightly once more, it occurred to him that his lowered gaze had brought him to stare unknowingly at the creamy flesh of Shirley's upper thighs, exposed by the short skirt of the Ashford Academy uniform she insisted on continuing to wear. Thankfully, she hadn't noticed – either that or she simply did not care. Blush spreading even more profusely at the implications of the latter possibility, Lelouch returned his gaze to Shirley's face, who responded by smiling gently with understanding.

Unexpectedly, she moved to embrace him, her arm circling around him to join its companion and grip him quite securely at the shoulders. Though surprised, Lelouch found himself unwilling to resist, the warm comfort of her tight embrace driving all other thoughts from his mind with ease. She exhaled contentedly, the warmth of her breath against the flesh of his neck again almost causing him to jump with a start. "Lulu, I understand why you want to keep hiding things from me," she said, a gleeful smile still inexplicably plastered to her face – did she really enjoy his mere company that much? – despite the somber nature of her words, "but please, share. I know from experience that distancing yourself from others who are trying to console you when you're this depressed only makes it that much worse." She backed away slightly, the smile gone, now replaced by a sincere pleading in her eyes. "So please, let me console you," she murmured before wrapping her arms around his midsection and nestling her beautiful face against his chest. "Please…I want this"

Stunned by her sincerity and either unable or unwilling – he knew not which emotion overpowered him more – Lelouch found himself gradually returning Shirley's embrace, slowly allowing his arms to wrap around her shoulders. He was grateful that she, burying her face in the crook of his neck as she was, did not notice the tear that managed to escape Lelouch's normally well-maintained façade. For awhile, they remained that way, content merely to revel in the comforting warmth of each other's embrace in silence. For Lelouch, it seemed enough, the intoxicatingly pleasurable sensation of her proximity driving all other worries from his mind easily enough alone. However, he had already made his promise, so when the two finally separated – though only enough to regard each other properly – he sought her advice.

"If you want the truth," he began, his gaze unwavering from hers, "I've failed." From the cast in her eyes, he could tell that she was contemplating making some light joke about how her darling Lulu was so perfect, ingenious, and could never possibly fail at anything, but she kept her mouth shut. Steeling his resolve, he continued on and explained to her his dire situation – how, despite everything, he had utterly failed to defend his sister. "The emperor knows I'm Zero. Now, no matter what move I make, it can only end with Nunnally being used as a pawn, and myself surrendering to the emperor in order to protect her. There's no one else I can rely on for this – Rolo's far too risky, and would probably do more harm to her than the emperor – and there's simply no other way of getting to her in time," he finished, shivering with mild revolt as he spoke of his younger "brother."Her gaze dropped, now deep in thought trying to help him think of a solution. When the silence persisted, Lelouch began to despair once more, returning to much the same demeanor that had occupied him when Shirley first entered the room. "There's just no one who can help me."

Abruptly, her eyes widened and her gaze brightened instantly, as if his defeatist statement had suddenly caused her to realize something. "Perhaps that's true, but that doesn't necessarily mean you can't still save Nunnally." His eyes shot open, instantly vibrant once more at the prospect of saving his beloved little sister. Seeing his intent gaze focus upon her so quickly and with such intensity, Shirley faltered a bit before answering, blushing under the intensity of his stare as she did so. "Even if there's no one willing to help you, surely there must be at least one person who will help Nunnally," she said meekly, finding herself distracted as she lost herself in his intent stare. He opened his mouth to immediately shoot down her theory – having assumed that he had already thought through every possible scenario – but, embarrassed, discovered that he had failed to think of such a plausible solution. Lowering his gaze yet again, deep in thought once more, he decided he would consider Shirley's surprisingly useful suggestion.

Eliciting a surprised yelp from Shirley, Lelouch suddenly and vigorously embraced her, cradling her head into the curve of his neck. Though taken aback at first, it was not long before she relaxed, returning his embrace and wrapping her arms around his torso once more. He sighed contentedly, his warm breath against her neck causing shivers to race down her spine, as did his words when he whispered softly into her ear: "Shirley…thank you." Moved by the sincerity of his words, she let her eyes gently flutter closed as she hummed contently, tightening her grip on Lelouch. Satisfied to simply revel in the warm comfort of their embrace, the two remained in silence for several moments. Shirley drew up her legs, now sitting side-saddle in Lelouch's lap, and slung her arms around his neck as their hands began to caress each other in the heat of their consoling embrace. Pausing briefly, blush effusive on both of their faces, they regarded each other with intentness in their eyes before closing once more, reuniting in a tentatively passionate kiss. Hands tangled in hair and heartbeats fluttered endlessly as lips mingled and flesh slid across flesh. In seemingly no time, however, it was over – ended prematurely by a mutual need for air.

Between panting breaths and futile attempts to regain their collective composure, Shirley broke the long lasting silence between them. "Do you need some time alone? To think?"

"Yes," he replied with only partial honesty. Though a small part of him did crave the solitude, his motives stemmed more from his diminishing capacity to control the biological reactions occurring within his trousers as a result of Shirley's warm presence, than any other reason. Smiling, as if aware of his thoughts, she relented. "Okay," she whispered before placing a final, chaste kiss on his cheek and gently extricating herself from his lap. Blush still profuse on her face, she smoothed out the hem of her skirt – by now somewhat ruffled and wrinkled as a result of their heated embrace – before smiling gently and departing, leaving Lelouch to stare longingly and wistfully after her. Yes, he was enjoying her company far too much, and he feared – or rather, he anticipated – that it would only become worse in the future.

… … …

Seeing her opportunity − Lelouch, his head turned in distraction to follow Shirley as she departed − Euphemia made her move. Silently slithering out of the shadows of the closet in which she had taken refuge, she treaded lightly, eventually coming to a halt directly in front of her troubled sibling, though he had yet to notice her. Thus, even though she spoke softly, he was visibly startled upon realizing that she was behind him. "She's right, you know." Whirling about to face her, Lelouch chuckled, though somewhat mirthlessly. "You're getting far too good at that...Honestly, I think you're even worse than CC."

Choosing to ignore his admonishments for the moment, Euphie pressed the subject. "I must admit, even though she looks dumb, she must have some grain of intelligence. She identified the only possible solution remaining for you with relative ease, even when that solution escaped a 'genius' such as yourself," she sneered in a playfully mocking tone. Reverting to his traditional, serious demeanor, Lelouch slowly rose from his seat, marching languidly over to the closet Euphie had just vacated. "It was useful advice, I won't argue that. Still, it assists me little in the way of details. Really, it just changes the nature of the question − rather than asking who I could turn to that would assist me, I now have to ask the same of who would help Nunnally. Unfortunately for both of us, the list of suitable candidates is equally short in either case," he droned morosely, solemnly donning the rest of his attire as Zero.

To his mild surprise, Euphie continued to display her incessant, annoyingly infectious smile − quite reminiscent of Nunnally's, he thought off-handedly. "Well, then this certainly is a good day for me. Who knew that I would know a simple answer to a question that has so easily baffled the great and powerful Zero," she cooed, again playfully mocking him. That was beginning to annoy him, so it was with mild harshness in his voice that he curtly replied: "Is that so? Well then, out with it! Who is this contact of yours, insane enough to help me − Britannia's most wanted − in kidnapping one of the empire's most beloved, helpless faces?"

Euphie herself now returned to a more serious demeanor as well, discarding the playful, mocking attitude she had so easily worn. Suddenly afraid to answer, her eyes dropped away from his, though his gaze remained intent on them. Euphemia remained silent, but that did little to impede Lelouch's impeccable ability to extract knowledge from seemingly out of thin air − or in this case, from the remorseful, wistful cast of Euphie's abruptly saddened gaze. "No! There's no way I can turn to him after everything that's happened! You of all people should know that!" Lazily lifting her gaze to once again meet his, her eyes filled with intent, she replied softly: "If he's as good a friend as you claim he once was, then he'll help us. At the very least, he'll do it for Nunnally's sake; he knows what the consequences would be if the emperor were to get a hold of her. Besides...I know him."

Seeing her sincerity, Lelouch's expression softened in kind, beginning to agree with his sister, much to his own chagrin. Stepping wordlessly past her, he retrieved the mask of Zero, which still lay forgotten on the table, and moved towards the exit. Rather than depart immediately though, he lingered for a moment − mask held up to his face, but not yet fully donned. "Alright, then. I have to make preparations. If I'm going to do this, though, you need to stay here, got it?" Wordlessly, she nodded her reluctant assent before gazing after Lelouch as the doors shut behind him.

Lelouch having departed, she let her guard down in the solitude of his private quarters, allowing a single tear to drop and a shudder to wrack her body. She had tried to avoid thinking about him over the course of the past year, knowing that doing otherwise would only rekindle her insatiable longing and desire for him, but now it was inevitable. Lelouch would soon weave their paths once again, and even though he had forbidden her from leaving the ships, Euphemia knew she would not be able to stop herself from seeing him once again, after so long.

"Suzaku..." she whispered sadly.

... ... ...

Waiting sternly atop the summit on which rested the Kururugi Shrine, Suzaku wore a fierce scowl as he waited impatiently for the rendezvous he had only half-heartedly agreed to. Rather than his typical knight's uniform, he sported his Ashford Academy uniform, somehow finding the formal military garb too official for the very unconventional meeting that approached. However, he had with him an integral part of an old uniform, a keepsake that he now kept with him at all times, a certain pin he could never let go of. It was Euphie's pin − the very ornament with which she had ordained him her knight, and − unbeknownst to the rest of the world − her lover. It had been well over a year since she was painfully robbed from him, torn from her rightful place at his side. Since that unspeakably horrible day, she had been on his mind incessantly, though thankfully not enough at the forefront of his mind to cause him to weep daily for hours on end, as he had in the first few days succeeding her death. But now, with this reuinion between himself and Lelouch, Suzaku found himself unable to keep her out of his focus, pain, rage, and ire instantly reigniting to the level of ferocity they had first reached upon Euphie's death. His scowled quickly turned into an expression twisted by indescribable rage.

Fishing around in his pocket briefly, he retrieved the fateful pin that had not left his grasp since that horrible day. He held it aloft in his palm, gazing at it wordlessly for several moments, his features softening into mournful sadness momentarily. Allowing a single tear to fall upon the pin he held so dear to his heart, he clutched it tightly in his hand − tight enough to draw blood, though the pin itself was already stained with several spots of blood: his, as well as Euphie's. His eyes slid shut, pained as he was, and he begrudgingly let his mind wander. Almost immediately, he saw her face, as beautiful, clear, and vibrant as it had been on that last, wonderful evening they had spent together. Her long, stunning pink hair was the most immediately recognizeable aspect of her immense beauty. Before long, though, he stifled the pleasant memory − an aftereffect of his ever-building rage. Opening his eyes, the former sadness now replaced by enraged, resolute determination, he replaced the pin in his pocket. "Euphie...finally, I'll have answers. Finally, I'll have retribution." He turned to face the growing sound of footsteps on the stone stairway behind him. "Lelouch..."

... ... ...

Lelouch stared angrily at the endless tower of stone steps that lay before him, standing motionless. Had it really been eight years since he had set foot on these steps? His frown deepened, remembering the last time he had surmounted this obstacle. It was hot, and he was drenched in sweat and sore to the bone the last time he had climbed these stairs − the latter aspect mostly due to the fact that he had singlehandedly been forced to carry Nunnally first, and then her wheelchair all the way up the stairs. Moments later, he had met Suzaku for the first time − a meeting characterized more by violent rage than the close friendship they had grown into by the time they met again at Ashford. Suzaku, at the time quite spiteful of the Brittanians, had beaten him senseless, and it had ironically been Nunnally who had saved him from any further torture.

The memory seemed all too fitting now, for Lelouch's heart was filled with much the same rage, and he predicted that his body would soon absorb a similar amount of pain. But, the memory of Nunnally steeled his resolve. He would do this. For Nunnally's sake. He had to. After shutting his eyes briefly to mentally review what he planned to say − as well as all of his contingencies − reopened them resolutely and began the long climb towards the summit, where the Kururugi Shrine, along with his best friend and greatest enemy, awaited his arrival.

... ... ...

The two acrimonious comrades stared each other down from afar with intense fury in their eyes when Lelouch finally reached the summit − a single drop of perspiration had managed to form on his forehead, concealed by his long bangs. They remained locked in their stare down for several moments, as if a blink from one of them would ignite a fistfight at any second; in the end, neither did. Ultimately, it was Suzaku who broke the silence, his words as spiteful as his stare:

"You actually came alone. Honesty. That's a new trick for you."

Lelouch returned the sentiment by deepening his scowl, attempting to pierce Suzaku via his gaze alone. "I didn't come here for my own entertainment Suzaku. I came to ask for help."

That did little to assuage his friend's rage. Approaching him sternly, Suzaku raised his voice. "Help? What makes you think I could help you after all the lies you've sold; all the people you've betrayed; all the blood you've shed!"

Frowning more deeply, yet revealing a trace of sadness and remorse in the cast of his eyes, Lelouch retorted in an equally loud tone: "It's not me that you need to help, Suzaku...it's Nunnally!"

His features softening for a moment in astonishment, Suzaku seemed momentarily pacified by Lelouch's revelation. Soon enough, though, his hateful scowl returned with even more ferocity. "You're sickening, you know that? You've destroyed the lives of so many and then you have the gall to come beg me to save one of _your_ loved ones?"

"Don't be foolish Suzaku! You know as well as I that Nunnally is one of your loved ones as well, that's why it's not for my sake that I do this!" Bowing his head slightly − though the saddened scowl remained − he sank slowly to his knees, clutching the fabric of his Ashford uniform as his shins came to rest on the pebbles below him.

"What's this?" Suzaku demanded angrily.

"You want me to beg, Suzaku? Well here I am. Never in my life have I lowered myself humbly before anyone. I have nothing to offer but my humility. Please, save Nunnally!"

This only seemed to enrage Suzaku even further. "Your humility? Do you think that means anything now?" Gritting his teeth in anger, he rushed forward at Lelouch, lifted his leg and brought it furiously down upon his friend's bowed head, crushing his face forcefully into the gravel below. Lelouch groaned quietly in pain.

"That's not good enough," he growled furiously. "Lelouch...Zero, you're going to answer for everything you've done!"

... ... ...

Euphemia watched helplessly as Lelouch and Suzaku furiously argued with each other. Concealed as she was by the bushes on the periphery of the Kururugi Shrine, neither of them knew she was there, for which she was grateful. She was right, and had been unable to resist a chance to see Suzaku once again after so many long, lonely months. Having arrived before Lelouch did, she was able to simply admire him sadly from a distance, watching as he stared longingly at the pin he held in his hand − the pin she had given him as a request to become her knight. She was beginning to regret her decision to come; he was so close, yet so painfully far away.

Things proceeded downhill quickly once Lelouch arrived, and she could not help but raise a hand to her mouth, gasping, as Suzaku exploded in a fit of rage and crushed Lelouch's face beneath his foot. She felt even worse now, for she could tell the reason for Suzaku's sudden rage was born out of unresolved grief over her apparent passing. At that moment, she wanted nothing more than to run over and embrace him. She wanted to console him, assure him that everything was alright, that she was fine, and that Lelouch's actions were not as cruel as they seemed − that he had legitimate reasoning behind almost everything. Unfortunately, she knew that was just wishful thinking. She was disobeying Lelouch's orders as it was, leaving his quarters without his permission. She certainly could not reveal herself outdoors − after all, she had been "dead" for well over a year. So, she continued to watch helplessly, eyes watering and heart aching, as the two men she loved most in the world were slowly consumed by an insurmountable hatred for each other. "Oh Suzaku..."

... ... ...

"You're going to answer everything I have to ask, got that?" Suzaku spluttered angrily. Lelouch, crushed as he was, made no reply.

"Lelouch...are you Zero? Be honest."

"...I am"

"Were you responsible for Euphie's death, and the slaughter of the Japanese?"

"...It was my fault...I ordered her to do it..."

Suzaku grunted with rage, eyes narrowing even further. "You disgust me," he spat hatefully. "I won't do it. I'm not going to help you."

Immediately disconcerted by the thought of his beloved little sister's last chance slipping away, Lelouch frantically tried to convince him otherwise. "Suzaku you must! IT'S NUNNALLY!"

That only angered him further. "Why must I do anything? You're Zero the miracle worker right? Figure it out yourself!"

Frantically deciding he would go to any length to save his sister, Lelouch did something he had rarely done over the course of his life: he became brutally honest. "I'm not a miracle worker! It's all tricks and stage production! Everything I've done is a lie! The mask of Zero is just a device that lets me tell lies!"

"SHUT UP!" Suzaku shouted furiously, grinding his friend's face even deeper into the gravel. "There's only one thing I could possibly want from you..." he raged, tears suddenly forming in his eyes as he fished around in his pocket for something. Pulling it free, he revealed it to be the pin that Euphie had bestowed upon him − the one physical memory of her he had left. He wielded it like a weapon, shoving it in Lelouch's face and forcing him to look at it. "If you're such a miracle worker then bring Euphie back from the dead! RIGHT NOW!" Lelouch only groaned louder and louder as the pressure from Suzaku's foot continued to increase, his skull now on the verge of fracturing. The tears now flowing freely, Suzaku added hatefully: "YOU SCUM!"

"Suzaku!"

Suzaku froze instantly, eyes widening and pupils shaking erratically in shock. _Impossible...that sounded like..._

Slowly, he turned, gradually decreasing the pressure he placed on his friend's now softened skull. There she was, standing proudly amidst the bushes behind them, the tears in her eyes reflecting his. She looked exactly as she did in his dreams: a soft, warm smile, her long pink hair blowing in the light breeze. He staggered forth, utterly shocked, drawn to her as if magnetically. Lelouch, meanwhile, failed to notice the incredible spectacle, as he knelt on the ground, clutching the sides of his head in pain − both physical and mental.

"It...can't be..."

Staggering forth in shock, and stumbling several times, Suzaku slowly approached the vision which he knew surely must have been a mirage. It couldn't possibly be her – she had been dead for over a year. Despite this knowledge, he was simply unable to resist the alluring sight of her: vibrant pink hair blowing gently in the breeze, a saddened smile on her face, and arms outstretched in open welcome. He knew it was not real. And yet…

Suddenly, all too soon the vision was cut short, interrupted by a sudden stream of Britannian soldiers that rushed forward, obscuring his vision.

"Hey!" he shouted uselessly, though no one seemed to hear him. Reflexively, he extended an arm, desperately trying to grasp the fading image before him, but it was no use – a Britannian squad leader cut him off, standing right before him and effectively blocking his view.

"Excellent work, Sir Kururugi."

"What? What is this?"

By now, the soldiers had reached Lelouch, who – having only recently recovered from Suzaku's beating – was promptly shoved face-first into the ground once more. Several soldiers wrestled with him, not that he provided any physical resistance, while one stood by and read off a number of charges:

"Zero, you are hereby placed under arrest for treason, terrorism, homicide, genocide, regicide…" the list seemed to go on forever, though Lelouch paid the soldier no heed, for he was instead overtaken by unspeakable rage.

"Suzaku…you BETRAYED ME!"

"No...I…" distracted as he was by what he had just seen, as well as the sudden appearance of the Brittanian military, there was nothing Suzaku could say to assuage his enraged opponent.

… … …

Unseen by any present at the shrine, Euphie recoiled in shock, gasping slightly before stifling herself in fear. Ducking back behind the bushes, she felt tears forming in her eyes – brought about by her interrupted reunion with her beloved knight, as well as the immense, almost palpable hatred radiating between the two. Unfortunately, with this many people around, she knew there was nothing she could do. So, filled with regret and remorse, she did what she had become so accustomed to over the past year: silently, she sank into the shadows, melding with their all-encompassing tendrils, and escaped.

Suzaku stood rooted to the spot for quite some time, even after all had departed, with his head in his hands. His mind still struggled to comprehend everything that had seemed to transpire with such impossible simultaneity mere moments ago. Unfortunately, it was little use; he still could not make sense of anything. Instead, he simply kept frantically glancing over his shoulder, hoping, praying that he would catch another glimpse of her. Alas, it was no use.

"Euphie…"

… … …

Lelouch sneered devilishly as he surveyed the scene before him from the safety of Shinkiro's cockpit, assured that the moment of his revenge was nigh. Nunnally was in safe hands, the Brittannians were being routed, and soon he would doubtless find a way to deal with the emperor. All the pieces were falling into place. To top it all off, before him floated the dismembered, disabled Lancelot, signaling the final defeat of the longtime friend who had betrayed him. It was all too delicious; he couldn't contain his excitement. In an evil, frenzied cry, he gleefully gave his next order.

"Kill him, Kallen! KILL SUZAKU!"

Unfortunately, his orders were never carried out. What happened next, he could not explain – all he knew was that his assured victory was suddenly and decisively replaced by an overwhelming sense of defeat, dread, and despair. In one, swift motion, the Lancelot dodged Kallen's killing blow and retrieved from its back some sort of handheld missile launcher. Out of this launcher, it fired a single projectile that raced towards the center of the Tokyo Settlement and disappeared, if only for a short while. After that, all of Lelouch's aspirations vanished in an instant, swallowed up with the rest of the Tokyo Settlement in an ever-expanding ball of deathly magenta light. An endless amount of thoughts raced through his head, but above all only one thing remained on his mind as the deathly light before him began to etch his retinas:

"NUNALLY!"

* * *

**Whew, didn't think I'd actually finish this one...apologies for the severe delay, but I've actually got a bit of time now, so perhaps I'll finish this soon enough. Thanks to all who continue to support me, especially a very special friend of mine who might be joining forces with me in the near future ;]. Finally, I've got a solid idea of how I want this one to end, so bear with me in these last few chapters and I'm sure you all will love it! Thanks again, and kindly review as you always do. See you all soon!**


	8. Disintegration

"WHAT?" Shirley shrieked, stumbling backwards to fall against a wall behind her. She was accompanied by C.C. in Lelouch's private quarters aboard the _Ikaruga_, where C.C. was busily packing her few belongings into a small satchel. The witch ignored the distraught teenager.

Shirley slumped against the wall until she came to rest on the floor, her skirt bunching up at the top of her thighs.

"Nunnally's…"

She clutched her head in her hands, eyes wide, shaking, and ready to pour over with tears.

"Nunnally's…!"

"Dead," said the witch, finally acknowledging her presence with a cold, sidelong glance over her shoulder.

Shirley gasped sharply, her entire body shaking severely and several tears escaping her eyes. "What?" she exclaimed, as if surprised by what she already knew. Tears began to flow freely down her face, staining the cuffs of her uniform's sleeves.

"She can't…she can't be dead," she pleaded, weeping. Then, as if suddenly struck by the reality of the truth: "But…that means Lelouch will try to…" she whispered shakily, "Oh god, no!" She screamed, burying her face in her arms and weeping openly.

Sighing, the witch rolled her eyes and briefly paused in her packing. "Lelouch is fine. Rolo saved him."

Shirley's head peeked out from its safe haven amidst her arms, tears still clinging to her eyes. "Rolo?"

C.C. finished packing, shouldered her bag, and began strolling to the door, her hand outstretched to activate the panel next to it.

"But then where is he!" Shirley demanded, her face pleading.

The witch didn't move. "I don't know," she said after a long pause, "but knowing him, I have a fairly good idea of where he's gone," she interjected before Shirley could voice her hysterics. She glanced over her shoulder at the weeping girl below her. "The Black Knights are no longer loyal to Lelouch, but I am. So, I'm going to find him. You need to figure out where your loyalties lie."

"TO LULU!" Shirley shouted.

"Then you must leave this place," the witch muttered softly, keying open the door.

"Wait! How can I get out of here? I want to help Lulu! I want to be by his side! But what can I even do?"

But C.C. had already departed, leaving Shirley alone in the dark, empty room with only her thoughts and her tears. She buried her face once more.

"Lulu…where are you?"

… … …

Lelouch's head sprang up, alert. He scanned the area; no movement. He was still alone. He sighed wearily and straightened up for a moment, groaning and wiping the sweat from his brow.

His guise as Zero had quite literally fallen apart, in more ways than one. Of course, there was the betrayal of his identity at the hands of Schneizel, but after their harrowing – and, in his case, less than voluntary – escape, even his physical appearance as the masked knight was torn and defiled with dirt and blood. Even his infamous mask was gone, lying…somewhere – he was not sure where exactly, nor did he care – near where they had finally landed.

He glanced down near his feet, where he had accumulated a sizeable pile of earth, topped off with a small pair of sticks in the shape of a cross. Such was the fate of the "brother" he had known for only a year. Lelouch groaned and clutched his temples wearily in his palm, dropping the large stick he had been using as a makeshift shovel.

"I was wrong," he muttered, "wrong to have given up so easily…"

He raised his head, gazing over his brother's crude epitaph across the sea, glistening with the late afternoon light, and over towards Kamine Island. "Thank you, Rolo. These few extra hours you've given me…I won't waste them." He strode forth towards the very edge of the cliff, donning his torn and mangled cape.

"Charles zi Britannia," he growled with purpose, reaching for his contact lens, "if I'm destined to fall into hell, then I'm dragging you WITH ME!"

… … …

"He _WHAT_?" Suzaku demanded angrily of his compatriots inside the officers' lounge aboard the _Avalon_. He slammed his fist on the edge of the pool table beside him with a resounding THUD, reverberating amidst the silence that descended on the room. The abandoned billiard balls continued to roll and clack against one another from the force.

"Yes, Zero escaped." Suzaku whirled about to see the door shut behind Prince Schniezel and his disturbingly ever-present aid, Kanon. Angry, though he was, Suzaku's experience and military training forced him, robotic, to at least stand at attention in the face of his superior.

"It's unimportant. For one, he couldn't have gotten far, and more significantly, we have much greater issues on which we should be focusing."

Suzaku lurched forward at the second prince, and had to stop himself from throwing a punch.

"Unimportant? This is Zero we're talking about, DAMNIT! He killed your sister!"

Schniezel refused to flinch, and merely continued to stare down his subordinate in his typical calculated, indifferent manner. "All very true, but that doesn't change the fact that there are much more important matters at hand."

Suzaku glared back at him, gritting his teeth so heavily they may as well have been cemented together. "Perhaps you should explain then, _your highness_." He did a poor job of concealing his rage. Schneizel remained unnaturally calm, refusing to flinch or even change his inflection.

"In short, it's the emperor."

Suzaku raised an eyebrow. "The emperor?"

"Yes. Haven't you ever wondered why he seems so distant from his people, why he seems to care so little for the people beneath him – even his own children? Or what about how he seems to disappear into thin air so often, abandoning his throne and his empire for months at a time?"

Suzaku glared at him, knowing where the conversation was heading. The others in the room gaped intently at Schniezel, the reality of the emperor's indifference beginning to dawn on them.

"As I said, it's simple. The emperor is working on something big, something so monstrous that we cannot even imagine what it is. If it is monumental enough to cause him to withdraw from and forget about the world of reality, we can only assume that his motive is to destroy this world."

Everyone in the room was paralyzed in shock and surprise, gaping at the prince and stammering their heartless and unconfident assurances that what he had said simply couldn't be the case. Only Suzaku remained resolute, having known to a degree, already, the emperor's true activities over the course of the past year, not to mention his involvement with Geass.

"And just what do you plan to do about this?" he asked, more anxious than angry, now. Schniezel chuckled, amused.

"Well, if the king has proven that he is irresponsible to his duties, and uncaring of his people, then the only option would be to depose him of his position. That would make me the emperor."

Gino was not amused. He advanced menacingly.

"Hold it, your _highness,_ what you speak is treason. If you continue speaking like this I'll be forced to-"

He was surprised to find Suzaku cutting him off, stepping in between him and Schniezel, his target.

"Kururugi?"

"Gino, don't be a fool. You know as well as I do that the emperor's been acting suspicious for a long time."

"Do you remember our life and death struggle with the Black Knights over Tokyo?" Schniezel interjected, with a hint of sarcasm, "He referred to such tragedy and strife as 'mundane and unimportant.' Do you still think he cares for your existence?"

Gino could only continue glaring, first at Schniezel, then at Suzaku, who kept his gaze on Gino.

"Your highness, you're going to order me to kill the emperor now, aren't you?"

He chuckled again. "If you would be so kind, sir Kururugi."

Suzaku nodded and began advancing towards the door, until he was stopped by Cecile, shouting at him from behind.

"Suzaku, what's gotten into you! You can't do this!"

He paused. "I have to do this. If no one else will act, then I will. After all…" he turned to face her, "What matters…are results."

… … …

Euphemia collapsed, sweaty and panting, against the moist wall of the cave in which she sought refuge. Once again, she had found her way back to Kamine Island, but under far more dire circumstances this time. She had arrived to discover the island thrust into turmoil, the sky aflame with combat. Apparently, from what she could piece together visually, the garrison unit of the nearby military base had, for whatever reason, completely turned against the arriving royal guard units, and were fighting brutally to repel them.

She had a feeling she knew exactly the reason.

Gathering her breath, she paused to brush a few stray, matted locks from her glistening forehead. In order to avoid getting caught up in the calamity, she had had to make a mad dash for the sanctuary of the cave she now called her refuge. Of course, being an immortal now, the ravages of war hardly meant anything to her; she had no need to fear for her safety if she could not die. Still, she knew that if she took one fatal round, her body may well be discovered while she was stuck in the ill-defined interim between life and death. Considering that she was supposed to have died more than a year ago, the implications were obvious.

She couldn't help but chuckle at the irony: she was "dead," yet she was immortal, and could not die. Despite that, her renown as in individual prior to her death ensured that, should she "die" again and be discovered, the ramifications would be catastrophic. And so, despite her immortality, she was strangely cursed to cower and fear for her own life even more than the average mortal.

Granted, she had to admit that in her current state, the likelihood that she would be recognized had diminished significantly. For one, her clothes – unchanged since her escape from the _Avalon's_ medical bay – bore no resemblance to the regal gown they once comprised. She had long ago torn the skirt to make it much shorter, and thus better facilitate her stealthy movements. Whereas before she had difficulty keeping it above the ground, now it gingerly licked her creamy flesh at mid thigh. However, her dash to the cave had left it tattered and singed, where several near misses from stray debris had almost caught her off guard.

She'd also had to make do for a year without a haircut, and her famously long hair now billowed down well past her hips – at least it would, if not meticulously tied and done up in order to preserve its former length. The fancy, complex hairdo served as the one remaining tie to her former, royal roots; the very roots she abandoned even before her untimely demise.

Exhaling, she straightened up, but kept a hand on the comforting, cool dampness of the cave walls. She hadn't time to contemplate the irony of her immortal mortality now. If she was going to do what she came to do, she would have to act quickly. A determined scowl plastered to her face, she began rushing towards the portal she knew all too well from her last visit to Kamine Island.

She had followed Lelouch here, and now she knew exactly what his plans were regarding their detestable father. If she knew her brother, she knew he would most likely attempt to somehow seal Charles within C's world, probably along with himself, after Nunnally's death. But she couldn't let him throw his life away like that. She needed to remind him of his resolve to absolve his sins, and sealing himself away forever with that…bastard…was not the best way to accomplish anything.

Aside from that, no longer was she content to simply cower in the shadows and hide her existence. A year's worth of isolation was something she simply could not handle. Even Lelouch, she noticed, cracked under that sort of despair – as he did upon first regaining his memory and finding himself imprisoned by the very school he had called a home. Besides, she admitted to herself with burning cheeks, seeing Suzaku earlier had evoked a far more profound reaction than she had at first thought. Suddenly, ever since that afternoon, she felt herself itch with desire to be with him once more, and to hell with the consequences! By now, she was physically unable to continue without his companionship. And, she couldn't help but joke to herself with a wry smile, wouldn't it be funny if the reason for her immortality was that she was still missing that half of her soul?

… … …

Lelouch sneered with glee. This was his favorite part of any scheme: the unveiling. The moment he was able to simply press a button, sit back, and watch the expressions of pure awe, terror, and disbelief on the faces of his enemies – in this case, his greatest enemy of all: his father. That moment when he could finally see the same pain, despair, and loss, in which he found himself so often drowned, exude so clearly from his foes. Oh, how it filled him with a perverse and evil, yet deliciously enjoyable glee to watch his foes cower and marvel at his militaristic genius. His penultimate victory at hand, he chose to relish the moment, and moved with slow, dramatic deliberation. Only gradually did he raise the detonator he clutched in his hand, making sure the bastard Charles caught a full, long glimpse at it; making sure he had enough time to guess what Lelouch was about to do just before he finally pushed the button – enough time for that delicious fear to build in his eyes.

*_click*_

The entire shrine was rocked by several muffled explosions to the rear; the charges Lelouch had placed on the portal to the World of C, the one link either of them had to the world of reality. It seemed as though even the ephemeral scenery in which they were enclosed seemed to flicker and crackle, as if it were a mere hologram, but within seconds the supernatural environment had resolved itself. Even Charles was forced to stagger backwards at the sudden disturbance, which only entertained Lelouch all the more. He chuckled, pleased with his success.

"In the end, your refusal to acknowledge the real world will be your undoing. I've now trapped us both here in this realm forever by sealing off our only means of exit. All your plans are useless if you can't interfere with the world you sought to control."

Charles glared at him, looking more furious than Lelouch had ever seen him. That only made him want to laugh even more. The almighty emperor was angry beyond belief, and yet had lost all power over Lelouch. He could do absolutely nothing, for their fates were sealed now. Lelouch, as relaxed as ever, calmly found a suitable boulder and reclined upon it, crossing his legs and continuing on as casually as if he were holding a conversation with his peers back at Ashford.

"Let us repent for our sins, dear father, trapped here, suffering for all eternity!" He proclaimed boldly with a wickedly pleased smile.

Incredulous, Charles could only respond by choking out one fury-charged exclamation of pure abhorrence:

"LeeeeeeeeLOOUUUUCH!"

… … …

"Damnit!" Suzaku swore as he angrily swung his ornate sword at the dirt beneath him.

Just when victory was at hand, his crippling weakness – the painful desire for life and self-preservation instilled in him by the geass Lelouch had cursed him with – had caused him to run from his opponent like a coward. He had nearly tripped several times, for he had fought the movement of his legs so valiantly, but unfortunately to no avail. He was revolted with himself. He swore and shouted and hacked at the ground as several tears escaped his eyes. How could he hope to accomplish anything when he couldn't even muster the willpower to overcome this curse levied against him?

"DAMNIT!" He shouted again, burying his sword in the hard terrain and banging his forehead against the pommel. He held his head there for a time, grimacing and lamenting his predicament. He cried out in despair and collapsed onto the ground, frustrated to the point of ignoring all the chaos of the unraveling coup around him. He didn't notice a stray missile hurling directly toward him. It impacted the ground just beneath the point of his blade and collapsed the ground around him.

… … …

He awoke, dazed, several moments later, his vision blurred, to the sight of a swath of beautiful pink hair hovering over him.

…_Euphie?_

No.

Anya, looking disappointed, withdrew the marker from his face, flipped it around in her hand and promptly recapped it.

"Darn. You woke up too soon."

He bolted upright.

"Anya? What are you-"

"Actually," she interjected, "Right now I'm Marianne. I'm Lelouch's mother."

He acted almost as if he had failed to hear her, surprised and dazed as he was.

"Lelou- wha?"

He then noticed a familiar flash of lime green nearby, and turned to see the amber-eyed witch clutching a large plush doll to her chest. Recalling the last time he had seen her, his eyes widened impossibly more in his already distraught condition. He stammered, mouth agape, an accusing finger pointed in her direction.

"Y-YOU!"

She didn't seem to react, and instead spoke with the same casual, business-oriented indifferent façade she always wore.

"Come on, Marianne, we're wasting time. If you want to save him, we should go now." She turned towards Suzaku. "Come on."

… … …

CC ran a hand over the rubble that once was the gateway to the World of C, a disgusted scowl plastered to her face.

"That Lelouch…" she muttered, "This is why I can't have anything nice." She shot a glance at Anya, who meandered and twirled about aimlessly behind her. "You'd better go first."

She shrugged. "Whatever you say."

She made her way over to the collapsed portal and stood next to CC, placing her hand on the cold stone in a similar manner. She stood very still for some time, before suddenly falling, limp and unconscious, into Suzaku's fast-reacting arms.

"Anya!"

"She'll be fine, Suzaku. Now, ready yourself. What we encounter in the other world might not be easy for you to handle."

She finally dignified him with eye contact. "I hope you're not afraid of ghosts."

… … …

Lelouch staggered backwards, stunned by the unbelievable apparition having appeared before him so suddenly.

"Wha- ! Mother?"

Marianne grinned and giddily twirled in place, flaunting her beautiful form.

"My, Lelouch, you've grown."

Euphemia, her amazement piqued by Lelouch's words and the vaguely familiar voice of a beloved woman long dead, carefully peered out from her hiding place behind a pile of rubble – likely a result from Lelouch's last visit to the World of C. What she saw jolted her back behind the rubble with a hand clamped across her mouth to prevent an inevitable yelp of pure shock. It was Lady Marianne, standing there in the flesh – that is, if anything in this strange, extra dimensional realm could be defined as flesh – as if she had never received more than a scratch, much less the hail of bullets that supposedly brought her to her death eight years ago.

She removed her hand from her silky lips and slowly exhaled, trying to keep calm and focused. Considering she had just witnessed the animated form of a dead woman, it was no easy task. Then again, she asked herself, was she really any different than Marianne? A reanimated corpse, once pierced by the deathly cold of a bullet?

She tried to shake off the thought, but found herself no less distraught. She had come here to act, to assert her existence and finally be a driving force to change the flow of this apocalyptic showdown. But now, faced with this new development, she found herself falling into old habits of stealth and eavesdropping, above all seized by a burning curiosity to find out just what the _hell_ was going on. So, she peered out once more, as carefully as she could, and silently swore to herself when it occurred to her that she had already missed half the conversation.

"Lelouch, you should have realized this by now. Since the dawn of man, this world has been embroiled in conflict, hatred, deceit. Lies. We lie and we fight because we can never truly understand each other, and thus violence is born. "

Lelouch could only gawk back at his mother, still too shocked to muster anything of a reaction. She beamed back at him, amused.

"But, we've found a way to eliminate those misunderstandings. Here, in this world, we can merge the physical beings of the real world with the collective subconscious of all humanity. We'll be able to understand each other on the deepest levels, and there will be no more lies, no more violence! Won't that be lovely?"

Lelouch remained completely flabbergasted. His mother's revelation changed everything; it completely redefined his role in shaping the world over the course of the past two years, and not in a positive manner, either. It was all far too much to take in, so all he could do was laugh.

"Then…I've just been a nuisance all along, haven't I? A mundane pest that couldn't even begin to comprehend, let alone do anything to stop your true plan."

Marianne simply continued to smile back at him, while Charles looked on, unfazed.

"And were you in on this as well?" Lelouch asked, casually turning to face CC and Suzaku just before they materialized amidst the strange haze that was the boundary of the World of C. The witch smiled back at him and replied just as coolly.

"What an astute observation. And I'll bet you've also guessed-"

"That you'd regained your memories? Yes, that would be vital for this plan to succeed."

Marianne giggled with glee yet again. "Fantastic! Now that we're all here, let's begin, shall we? Charles!"

The world around them seemed to dissolve in an instant, revealing a far more open, outer-space-like atmosphere, complete with what looked like a miniature version of the planet Jupiter, overhead. The Sword of Akasha – a swirling pillar of decomposing cadavers – rose ominously behind the two royal parents, aiming straight for that which Charles so repeatedly took to calling "God."

"Yes, I see now," Lelouch said, regaining his confidence, "You were dissatisfied with the world you lived in, so you selfishly left it behind and chose to make your own, forcing everyone else to conform in the process. And in the end, all conflict would be eliminated, so who could possibly complain? I only have one question…"

He raised his gaze to match theirs, his calm, focused rage returned. "Why…why were you so willing to put your children in harm's way, to watch them suffer and die at the hands of the same kind of conflict which drove you to do all this?"

Charles and Marianne seemed surprised. "What are you talking about? We were under suspicion so we had to distance ourselves from you. That's why we sent you and Nunnally far away from here, so you wouldn't be caught up in all this."

"That is correct," Charles interjected. "My brother allowed his jealousy to cloud his judgment," he recalled with an infuriated scowl. "It was he who orchestrated the attack on Marianne. And then, he LIED! My own brother lied to me, even after we had made a pact to be the only people in this world who would tell the truth. From that moment I knew he couldn't be trusted, and so I sent you and Nunnally to Japan to keep you safe."

Lelouch chuckled. "That's a lie!"

Marianne and Charles took a step back, gaping at him in surprise. Marianne, especially, seemed to take great offense:

"Lelouch, stop this nonsense!" she chastised, "We love our children very much!"

"THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP THE WAR WITH JAPAN!"

They recoiled and froze. He had caught them there, poking a fatal hole in their logic that left them defenseless and unable to respond. All they knew was that moments ago, they had him right where they wanted him – an ally and a son to aid them in the final steps of their lifelong agenda. But now, there he was lost to them forever, with no chance of regaining him. All they could do was stand there and take the lashing they had coming to them.

"Do you even realize the significance behind Nunnally's smile?" He inquired, stepping forth boldly. They continued to gawk at him in confused silence.

"Because of YOU!" He pointed an accusing finger at Charles, and began to tear up, only slightly against his will. "Because of you, Nunnally had to rely on those around her for everything. She knew that there would never be anything she could do on her own, and she always thought she burdened those around her. And yet, she still smiled! Her smile…was one of gratitude!"

Finally, Marianne chose to speak, much more meekly this time: "Lelouch, this is silly…"

"NO! In pursuit of your own selfish goals, you completely forgot about the wellbeing of your own children! So you sent them away and then pursued them with war! The fact is undeniable…you ABANDONED US!"

Suzaku, watching the incredible exchange between parents and child from behind, was just as shocked as Charles and Marianne. He had never seen Lelouch speak this passionately about anything, and that was saying something. The fact that Lelouch was actually shedding tears…it was something Suzaku definitely wasn't used to seeing. And so, he told himself, that's what must have motivated him to finally act. He brought his sword to the ready and strode forth.

"Lelouch is right. What you've done…is unforgivable. Charles zi Britannia, Marianne vi Brittannia, I won't allow this to continue."

Marianne seemed to know when the jib was up. She lowered her head in shame, and Suzaku could have sworn he heard her mutter under her breath: "Charles, he does have a point. We should accept when we've lost…"

Charles, however, wasn't one to give up so easily. Practically shoving Marianne out of the way, he rushed forth ready to fight.

"Enough of this!" he barked angrily, "Kururugi, do you seriously expect me to believe you're going to side with the one who killed your beloved Euphemia?"

Suzaku froze, his eyes shooting open. The utter chaos and calamity of the events of the past few days had taken such a toll on him physically and mentally that he had completely forgotten Euphie, if only for an instant. Guilt washed over him, and immediately he felt the wound reopen, and its effects returned to haunt him anew. He clutched his forehead, breathing heavily now. He remembered now the illusion he had seen just earlier that day: he could have sworn he saw Euphie's spitting image in the woods earlier, when he was interrogating Lelouch. He had thought his eyes were merely playing tricks on him back then, but what if…what if it was actually his guilty conscience haunting him?

He raised his head to the sky and screamed, the sound cut through the tense air of the World of C.

Finally, when he regained himself, he turned to face Lelouch, speaking calmly and quietly as if nothing unusual had happened.

"Lelouch, I don't agree with what they're doing here, and I'll do everything I can to stop them." He approached his old friend slowly, gripping his sword tightly. Lelouch recoiled in shock, eyes wide. "But, before I do, I still have to repay you…for something I can never forgive!" He raised his sword high over his head, ready to strike.

"SUZAKU!"

* * *

**Wow, so apparently I still exist. My greatest apologies on taking so long with this shoddily-written chapter. After my schedule finally finished having its way with me, I actually had a bit of difficulty getting this one going, but wrapped it up decently well in the end. Aside from that, I am pleased to announce that I have one more chapter planned, and that I will indeed begin writing immediately, so you may expect that soon. Thanks to all you guys for continuing to read even during my absurdly long absence, and I hope you enjoyed!**


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